FEBRUARY 2021. NO 2 (33). NATO'S PRESENCE THE NORTHERN STARS: TELEMARK BATTALION IN LITHUANIA IN SHORT Change of eFP Battalion WAR FOR FREEDOM OF LITHUANIA: battle Group command THE DECLARATION OF FEBRUARY 16, 1949 n February 10 the change of com- continue working on improving service con- mand ceremony of the NATO en- ditions, infrastructure and Host Nation Sup- hanced Forward Presence Battal- port provided to the NATO eFP battalion and Oion Battle Group (eFP BG) in Lithuania took other allies here in Lithuania," the Minister place at Rukla. The incoming eFP BG Lithua- said. nia Commander Lt Col Sebastian Hebisch "8 of 10 Lithuanian residents approve of al- from the 93rd Panzer Battalion of the Ger- lied troop presence on the territory of Lithua- man Armed Forces took over the duties from nia and think that the multinational NATO the outgoing LT Col Peer Papenbroock. The battalion constitutes a deterrence to hostile high-readiness multinational eFP BG capabi- states. We need to invest in our defence the lity of the Alliance was deployed in Lithuania same way we invest in fences around our four years ago as a collective and weighty con- houses, to protect us from threats or just for SPECIAL tribution of NATO allies to the enhancement the sake of it — because we need it to feel safe of security of the Baltic region. and take care of our backyard calmly. NATO CHALLENGES POSED BY Minister of National Defence of Lithuania allied presence in our country and the region RUSSIA FOR LITHUANIAN Arvydas Anušauskas thanked NATO allies is a clear and unambiguous message to the for their contributions to the NATO eFP BG threat keeping watch on the other side of the MILITARY SECURITY AND Lithuania and at the same time — to the secu- fence, it has tried to take advantage of our gul- THEIR PROSPECTS rity and efforts to strengthen not only Lithua- libility, or weakness, or sometimes blindness nia and the region but the whole Alliance. at various points of history already. We have to "Commanders of the NATO enhanced For- do everything possible to prevent it from hap- ward Presence Battalion Battle Group have pening again," Chief of Defence of Lithuania the honourable privilege and responsibility Lieutenant General Valdemaras Rupšys said. to lead the key unit of NATO’s continuous After his second tour of duty as the NATO presence in Lithuania. Let me assure you that eFP BG Lithuania Commander Lt Col Peer we will keep up the mutual work of ensuring Papenbroock stressed that the mission of the stability and security in the Baltic region. I NATO enhanced Forward Presence had been would like to assure as well that Lithuania will See page 3 Close Baltic cooperation Content NEWS CHANGE OF EFP BATTALION BATTLE GROUP COMMAND..........................................1,3 CLOSE BALTIC COOPERATION.....................................2 NATO'S PRESENCE THE NORTHERN STARS: TELEMARK BATTALION IN n February 8 Minister of National Defence Arvydas Anušauskas had a distance meeting with his Baltic coun- LITHUANIA.............................................4 terparts, Minister of Defence of Latvia Artis Pabriks and OMinister of Defence of Estonia Kalle Laanet: Baltic Security and Defence Cooperation Presidency 2021 was rotated from Latvia to Lithuania and Lithuania’s priorities in the area were presented at the IN SHORT meeting. WAR FOR FREEDOM OF The Baltic Ministries of Defence will continue and foster a close coordination and cooperation on defence policy between the count- LITHUANIA: ries. "The trilateral Baltic cooperation is visible in such, larger for- THE DECLARATION OF mats as NATO, EU, cooperation with the U.S. Only when we speak in one voice can we achieve better and more favourable results, en- FEBRUARY 16, 1949...........................10 sure effective deterrence, and support , both mutual and from our allies," said Minister A. Anušauskas. Minister stressed that Lithuania would focus on strengthening SPECIAL capabilities, particularly, regional air defence, maritime situational CHALLENGES POSED BY awareness, and of the Special Operations Forces, in order to ensure a strong continued deterrence and enhanced defence. RUSSIA FOR LITHUANIAN The Baltic Defence Ministers underscored the importance of co- MILITARY SECURITY AND THEIR operation with the new Administration of the United States and co- ordinated national positions ahead of the upcoming NATO Defence PROSPECTS..........................................16 Ministerial due later this month. Areas of the most intense Baltic defence cooperation are joint officer training at the Baltic Defence College, NATO Air Policing, naval forces, joint exercises. The countries also synchronise capabi- lity planning, coordinate joint procurement, organise joint training events, exercises, seminars, and carry out cooperation of individual Military Press Office of Lithuanian Armed Forces armed services. Totorių str. 25, LT-01121, Vilnius; Phone (370 5) 210 3897, GSM (370 6) 86 94458; fax (370 5) 273 5550; Ministers of Defence, Chiefs of Defence, and Chiefs of Defence Email [email protected] Staffs of the Baltic states meet on a biannual basis, Defence Policy Publisher — Lithuanian Armed Forces. The opinion of editorial office does not necessarily coin- Directors, Commanders of the Land Forces, Navies, Air Forces, Spe- cide with the opinion of the authors. Pictures, manuscripts are not returned and reviewed. Cir- cial Operations Forces, and experts of different levels meet regularly culation is 300 copies. Printed by the Cartography Center of Lithuanian Military, Muitinės str.4, Domeikava, LT-54359 Kaunas dist. Order GL-431. as well. The Baltic Defence Cooperation is chaired by Lithuania in 2021, in 2022 the presidency will rotate to Estonia, and in 2023 — to Lat- via. MoD information and photo credit 2 Lithuanian Military Digest News Change of eFP Battalion battle Group command From page 1 Force Exercises Iron Wolf I and II. Even though nia. The military personnel have established ex- clear and persistent since its beginning in Febru- the situation was complicated by the pandemic, cellent relations with Lithuanian colleagues, lo- ary 2017. According to him, together with the the Battle Group and an additional reinforcement cal communities, schools, municipalities; they Lithuanian forces the eFP demonstrates NATO's of the BG deployed by Germany trained in Ex- take part actively in a variety of cultural and so- determination, solidarity and unity in the ercise Iron Wolf II last autumn. Land element of cial campaigns and celebrate together with us mission to defend and protect the people of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force historical and national dates of Lithuania. Lithuania from a potential aggression, and they (VJTF), under the command of the Polish con- Framework nation Germany also has the stand ready to respond at any moment if that is tingent, was integrated into its command struc- largest contingent of military personnel in the necessary. ture for Exercise Brilliant Jump for the first time. NATO eFP BG Lithuania. The country demon- The new NATO eFP BG rotation includes That has doubtlessly strengthened the interoper- strates leadership not only by sending to Lithuania approx. 1,200 military personnel from Bel- ability of the Battle Group, other allied capabili- its excellent officers but also by completing train- gium, the Czech Republic, Germany, Iceland, ties, and the Lithuanian Forces, and their readi- ing area modernisation projects and investing into Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway. ness to be effective in a crisis. Over 12 thousand military training infrastructure in Lithuania. *** allied soldiers from nine NATO allies — Germa- Deployment of the NATO enhanced For- The eFP BG has been deployed in Lithuania ny, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech ward Presence Battalion Battle Groups in the since early 2017. It is now integrated into the Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg, Croatia and Baltic states and Poland was a decision taken Mechanised Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf. The Bat- France — have already rotated through the eFP by the NATO Heads of State and Government tle Group is training with Lithuanian, U.S. heavy to train with the Lithuanian Armed Forces. in July 2016 at the Summit in Warsaw. battalion in Lithuania, NATO Air Policing Mis- The NATO unit has not only settled in but MoD information sion colleagues, takes part in major national Land also naturalised over the four years in Lithua- Photo credits: Sgt 1st Class Arnas Čemerka NATO names location for new military space center he French city of Toulouse is to and capabilities, and testing and validating con- establish the space command in Toulouse, so be NATO’s new center for excel- cepts through experimentation. we already have military personnel in situ. The lence in military space. The decision NATO said the centers "offer recognized ex- choice made by NATO was logical, but we wel- wasT taken by NATO on Jan. 28 but was official- pertise and experience that is of benefit to the come it." ly announced Feb. 4. Alliance ... while avoiding the duplication of as- Françoise Dumas, president of the Na- Germany had also lobbied to host the cen- sets, resources and capabilities already present tional Assembly’s Defense Commission, said ter, which will be set up at the CST (Centre with the Alliance." in a statement: "We are extremely pleased that Spatial de Toulouse), which is also to be the France already hosts one such center: the NATO has recognized France’s excellence in the headquarters of France’s Military Space Com- Center for Analysis and Simulation of Air Ope- space domain, in particular in the region of Tou- mand, on the site of France’s national space rations located on the Air Force base of Lyon- louse. This is extremely good news for the city studies center known as CNES. Mont Verdun. of Toulouse, the Occitanie region and the whole The new center will be NATO’s 27th center Hervé Grandjean, a spokesman for the of the space ecosystem which is implanted there of excellence.