Roughly 140 reconnaissance personnel will be training in joint exercises with scouts of the Lithuanian Land Force. Members of the Portuguese reconnaissance company arrived via Kaunas International Airport while roughly 40 units of military materiel will arrive via Klaipėda Seaport in the nearest while.
The Portuguese soldiers will be training in Lithuania till July.
“We highly appreciate Portugal‘s involvement in finding solutions to the security issues of our region. Even though a geographically remote country, Portugal takes an active part in the military projects in the Baltic region, take fighter jets deployed on the NATO Baltic Air Policing mission or rotating forces in Lithuania,” Chief of Defence of Lithuania Major General Jonas Vytautas Žukas said.
At combined exercises Portugal’s military will be practicing motorised reconnaissance which is an element of various types of operations, for example, offensive, defensive, peace support, etc. The Portuguese soldiers will also be involved in national and international exercises held in Lithuania.
The Portuguese military contingent is also bringing roughly 40 military vehicles, including Pandur II and Chaimite armoured infantry and reconnaissance vehicles, military ATVs and trucks. The vehicles will be redeployed from Klaipėda to the Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf in Rukla. For security purposes the column will be escorted by the Lithuanian Military Police and Road Police on its way.
Lithuania is providing Host Nation Support for the allied forces deployed in its territory in full, i.e. lodging, food supply, and other types of logistic support.
As the measures of deterrence agreed on by NATO are being enhanced in the Baltic region since spring 2014, Lithuania is hosting rotating US ground forces, Hungarian and Danish companies have also been deployed for combined training in Lithuania for several months.
The Alliance also responded to the shift in geopolitical situation in the region by strengthening protection of airspace and sea territory of the Baltic States.
Be the first to comment