News Releases

Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė and Chief of Defence Lt Gen Arvydas Pocius participate in the NATO Summit in Chicago which began on Sunday, the meeting will adopt decisions fundamental to Lithuania's security and the future of NATO.

"NATO Heads of State agreed to prolog the Baltic Air Policing mission with the base in Šiauliai. In a discussion the majority of state leaders expressed strong support to the extension of the project. It is important that the mission was labeled as an excellent example of Smart Defence, along with other instances, such as missile defence", Minister said. Besides that, Hungary and the Netherlands expressed intent to join the mission and Luxemburg offered to contribute financially.

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Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė stressed in a round-table discussion in Ottawa “NATO Priorities and Energy Security” with Canadian security and defence experts that energy security points are becoming increasingly important on the NATO agenda while consciousness regarding the area proliferates across the Alliance.    

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On May 20 and 21 Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė will attend the NATO Summit in Chicago (USA).

Lithuanian delegation in the NATO Heads of State meetings will also include President of Lithuania Dalia Grybauskaitė, Foreign Minister Audronius Ažubalis, and Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lt Gen Arvydas Pocius.

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“NATO Summit in the USA is important for Lithuania for the transatlantic connection. We support the initiatives that strengthen NATO”, said Rasa Juknevičienė in a meeting with Defence Minister of Canada Peter MacKay in Ottawa, Wednesday. It was the first visited conducted by a Lithuanian Minister of Defence in Canada. The meeting Ministers addressed the topics of the NATO Summit which will be held within a short while in Chicago.

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On May 16 twenty five former insurgents grounded weapons in Chaghcharan, capital of Ghor province.

The disarmament ceremony took place in the yard of provincial Governor Dr. Abdula Haiwad’s office in the presence of PRT-15 Commander Col Artūras Radvilas, Head of PRT Civilian Component Jurgis Stanaitis, representatives of the European Union Police mission, local security forces, and local authorities.

The insurgenst originate from the Allahyar village of the Chaghcharan district, Ghor Province. The former rebels handed over the possessed light rifle arms and ammunition to the representatives of local administration and national security forces. They in their turn presented copies of the Koran and chapans, national coats in Afghanistan.

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On May 16 Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė and her delegation leave for Ottawa (Canada). On May 17 Lithuanian Minister will meet with Defence Minister of Canada Peter MacKay, high officials of the Senate, the House of Commons, and other high representatives.

Defence Ministers will discuss the NATO Summit in Chicago due on May 20-21 (USA), the multinational operation in Afghanistan and NATO commitments after 2014. Lithuanian Minister R. Juknevičienė will deliver an address about security challenges in the Baltic Region, and other points.

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On May 14 through 18 arms control inspectors of the Arms Control Section of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will conduct inspection of agreed region of Moldova’s military units together with colleagues from the USA and Canada.

The inspection will be conducted under the Vienna Document of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). On the basis of the document Lithuania conducts arms control in other countries just like other OSCE members, the inspected countries are shared among NATO members states.

According to the revised version of Vienna Document 2011 (the main correction was related to the form of information exchange), each member of the organisation holds a right to verify if no other country which is not an OSCE member conducts illicit military activities requiring advance notification and does not sustain undeclared military capabilities.

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Minister of National Defence Rasa Juknevičienė will conduct a work visit to Warsaw (Poland) on Monday where she is to meet with Defence Minister of Poland Tomasz Siemoniak.

The aim of Lithuanian Minister’s visit to Poland is to discuss bilateral defence and security cooperation of Poland and Lithuania, undergoing and newly launched projects in the context of regional and transatlantic defence.

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May 13, three districts of Ghor were drawn into the third phase of the process of transfer of responsibility for security onto local forces - Lal va Sar Jangal, Chahar Sada and Dawlat Yar.

“President Hamid Karzai’s announcement regarding the third phase of the transfer of responsibility was an anticipated statement before the Chicago Summit. It was a consistent step in the NATO-led transfer of responsibility onto the Government of Afghanistan process”, commented Vice Minister of Defence of Lithuania Vytautas Umbrasas on the announcement of the beginning of the third phase.

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Minister of National Defence discussed bilateral military cooperation, NATO Summit in Chicago and multinational exercise and operations with Defence Minister of Poland Tomasz Siemoniak.

Minister of National Defence stressed that defence relations between Poland and Lithuania are essential.

She thanked Poland for Active involvement in the Baltic Air Policing mission.

“We appreciate very much the support and contribution Poland makes in the context of this mission”, said R. Juknevičienė. According to her, NATO’s Air Policing mission is a part of NATO’s deterrence and defence policy in our region.

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