Royal Danish Embassy T. Kosciuskos 36, LT-01100 Vilnius Tel: +370 (5) 264 8768 Mob: +370 6995 7760 The Defence Attaché To Fax: +370 (5) 231 2300 Estonia, Latvia & Lithuania Newsletter for the Baltics Week 39 2017 The following information is gathered from usually reliable and open sources, mainly from the Baltic News Service (BNS), respective defence ministries press releases and websites as well as various newspapers, etc. Table of contents THE BALTICS ........................................................................................................................................ 3 NATO military aircraft in Baltics scrambled nine times last week over Russian aircraft ............ 3 THE BALTICS AND EXERCISE .............................................................................................................. 3 NATO allies and partner train in Exercise Ramstein Alloy in the Baltic airspace ......................... 3 International military exercise to be held in Latvia in October .................................................... 4 LITHUANIA .......................................................................................................................................... 4 Lithuania to build new barracks in Rukla ....................................................................................... 4 Georgian Defence Minister visits Lithuania ................................................................................... 4 Lithuania get Russian general’s vague calls to free border guard ............................................... 5 Zapad involved several times more troops than official numbers .............................................. 5 LATVIA ................................................................................................................................................. 6 Defence Ministry to buy several land plots to expand Adazi military base ................................. 6 Procedures for allowing family NATO personnel to reside in Latvia to be eased ....................... 6 Defence ministers of NATO countries making up the multinational battalion visit Adazi ......... 6 Defence Ministry to coordinate development of national defence and security industry ........ 7 Latvian chief of defence makes visit to Finland for discussions on regional security ................ 7 We must be prepared for disinformation campaigns directed against NATO forces ................ 7 No cyberattacks on state institutions reported during active phase of Zapad manoeuvres ..... 8 ESTONIA .............................................................................................................................................. 8 Estonia: Norway to join NATO CCDCOE ......................................................................................... 8 Defence Minister thanks US troops stationed in Estonia during Zapad ...................................... 8 Belgian aircraft to conduct low-altitude flights in Estonian airspace .......................................... 8 Estonian observer of Zapad exercise: Observers were only shown some parts ........................ 9 2 THE BALTICS NATO military aircraft in Baltics scrambled nine times last week over Russian aircraft NATO military aircraft patrolling Baltic airspace were scrambled nine times last week to intercept Russian military aircraft in international airspace over the Baltic Sea. The biggest number of scrambles took place last Wednesday when the Alliance’s aircraft took off several times to intercept Tu-22 military aircraft and Su-27 military aircraft. Officially, it was the final day of the military exercise Zapad 2017. The Russian military aircraft had no flight plans, did not maintain radio contact with the regional air traffic control centre and had their automatic transponders switched off. According to the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, NATO's military aircraft were scrambled daily on Tuesday through Friday. THE BALTICS AND EXERCISE NATO allies and partner train in Exercise Ramstein Alloy in the Baltic airspace On September 26-27, scheduled exercise of NATO’s air capabilities, Ramstein Alloy 6, took place in the Baltic airspace. The series serve to refine C2 of the airspace surveillance and control, air policing and other air capabilities in the Baltic region. The exercise involves the US air detachment currently conducting the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic States with F-15C Eagles operating from Šiauliai (Lithuania), and F-16s of the Belgian Air Force operating from Ämari (Estonia). Estonian, German and Polish aircraft will also train in the exercise; C-27J Spartan transport aircraft of the Lithuanian Air Force will simulate the communication loss scenario, while additional air control and command will be provided by the NATO Airborne Warning and Control System (AWACS) E-3A aircraft. Overseen by NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem, Germany, mission control will be provided by the AWACS and the Karmelava Control and Reporting Centre, Control and Reporting Post in Ämari and elements of NATO’s Recognized Air Picture Production Centre/Sensor Fusion Post (NATO DARS) currently deployed in Lielvarde, Latvia. The exercise is organised by the NATO Allied Air Command in Ramstein and NATO’s Combined Air Operations Centre at Uedem. 3 International military exercise to be held in Latvia in October On 24 September, it was announced that the National Armed Forces will be organizing the Silver Arrow 17 military exercises together with allied forces from 16 to 29 October. On 26 September, the Latvian government furthermore gave the green light to Latvian troops’ participation in Silver Arrow 17. The participants in the infantry and air exercise will also include soldiers from Poland, Spain, Canada, Italy, Albania, Germany and the United States. A total of more than 500 foreign military personnel are expected to participate in the exercise. LITHUANIA Lithuania to build new barracks in Rukla On 28 September the Lithuanian Defence Ministry announced the plan to build new barracks in Rukla, central Lithuania, in 2019. The new barracks will be built on the grounds of the Lithuanian Great Hetman Jonusas Radvila Training Regiment for soldiers of the Duke Vaidotas Mechanized Infantry Battalion and will also accommodate allied troops if needed. According to Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis, the new barracks are needed after Lithuania reintroduced military conscription in 2015 and for allied troops coming to the country. The new barracks, the first such project after Lithuania joined NATO in 2004, will accommodate around 500 soldiers. Seven companies bid for a contract worth 5.5 million euros from the Lithuanian Armed Forces to build the barracks, with the construction work expected to start this year. Georgian Defence Minister visits Lithuania On September 26-28, Minister of Defence of Georgia Levan Izoria conducted a formal visit in Lithuania. On September 27, he took part in a bilateral meeting with Minister of National Defence of Lithuania at the Ministry of National Defence. He met with Lithuania’s Defence Minister Raimundas Karoblis to discuss the regional security situation, defence reforms, participation in international operations and aspects of bilateral cooperation. At the meeting, Karoblis stated that Lithuania would continue supporting Georgia’s aspirations of NATO membership but stressed the need for reform at the same time. “Georgia’s defence sector reform is necessary not only for its NATO integration but also for its stronger national defence” the Minister underlined. Later in the day, both ministers gave speeches at an international security conference organized by the Defence Ministry in cooperation with the Eastern European Studies Center, Eastern Partners in European Security and Defence - Putting EU Global Strategy into Practice. The Georgian Defence Minister also visited the Lithuanian Armed Forces’ Joint Staff. The agenda of Izoria,s 4 three-day visit in Lithuania also included meetings with Foreign Minister Linas Linkevicius, the Chief of the Joint Staff of the Lithuanian Armed Forces Major General Vitalijus Vaikšnoras, and chairman of the parliamentary National Security and Defence Committee, Vytautas Bakas. Lithuania get Russian general’s vague calls to free border guard Lithuanian authorities detained Ruslan Peregud, a 21-year-old Russian citizen, on 9 September, after he illegally entered Lithuania’s territory by swimming across the River Sesupe that runs along the Lithuanian-Kaliningrad border. Documents suggest that Russian border commissioner, Major General Panchenko, had sent a few conflicting requests to Lithuania on the day of the detention, asking to release the man. The first letter described the detainee as an ordinary Russian citizen, persuading he had major health issues. Attached to the letter was a medical record, listing Peregud as an unemployed handicapped person. According to the letter, the violation of the state border regime was clearly accidental. After Lithuanian border guards did not hand over the Russian citizen, they received another letter from Panchenko a few hours later, which listed Peregud as “an officer of the Border Service of the Russian Federal Security Service FSB in the Kaliningrad region”. After detaining the suspect, Lithuania’s law- enforcement opened a probe. Prosecutors said the defendant fully admitted to the crime. On 26 September, a prosecutor asked a court to sentence him to 60 days of arrest for the offense, with the verdict to be handed down on 9