Courtesy of the Lithuania Tribune
April 15, 2014
NATO is considering various defence-boosting scenarios in the Baltic states, Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaite said during her Tuesday visit to Nemencine, a town some 20 km northeast from Vilnius, where military exercises Amber Will 20014 are taking place.
The president made the comment in response to a question about NATO’s specific plans to strengthen defence in the Baltic states.
“As NATO members, we can expect the deployment (of forces -BNS), i.e., their presence here within our army units, under the collective defence article. It wouldn’t be some base of another country but that would be our partners’ forces. They might vary, not only infantry, depending on the need. Such possibilities are being discussed at the NATO headquarters as well,” Grybauskaite said.
In her words, the eventual choice of defence variants will depend on which threats will be considered the biggest.
“The most important thing for us is to know that all variants are being considered and the scope of defence measures will match the need. But, with no doubt, our non-friends will not be immediately informed about that so that they know what is going to happen,” Grybauskaite said.
The head of state also underlined that Lithuania must be ready to defend its territory until NATO partners come to help.
The Amber Will 2014 exercise will take place until Friday and put to test and certify readiness of the staff of the National Defence Volunteer Force to plan and implement defence operations and readiness of logistic units to plan provision of forces during such operations. The units of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will train alongside representatives of the Public Security and State Border Defence Services, Fire and Rescue and Police Departments under the Ministry of the Interior, Prisons Department under the Ministry of Justice, Customs Department under the Ministry of Finance, and the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union.
