Czech general elected new chairman of NATO Military Committee

He will replace Danish General Knud Bartels. The latter congratulated his successor at a press conference in Vilnius following the meeting and wished him success in carrying out his duties.

Pavel will assume the post next year.

Belgium, Germany and Hungary to send troops to Lithuania

Chief of Defense of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas said on Saturday to have agreed with representatives of Belgium, Germany and Hungary that troops from these countries will come to Lithuania for training.

Company-size American contingents are currently deployed in the Baltic states and Poland.

“During bilateral conversations, I managed to agree with another three countries that they will shortly send their additional capabilities to Lithuania, and this way new rotation of additional NATO forces will take place in Lithuania, in other words, such rotation will be started,” Žukas told a press conference following a meeting of NATO chiefs of defense in Vilnius.

He underlined that these were only preliminary conversations and there are no agreements as yet on specific arrival time.

“We still cannot talk about specific arrival. We spoke about the participation in training for a longer or shorter time, and every country has different opportunities to do so. We just spoke, agreed that these countries are ready to take part in training events together with the Lithuanian army in the territory of Lithuania,” the chief of defense of Lithuania said.

Žukas also said that the Alliance would retain its bolstered presence in the region on the land, in the air and in the sea.