“Lithuania and the Czech Republic see the threats to our region in a very similar way, therefore the bilateral cooperation for ensuring security in the region is very close. Lithuania highly appreciates the weighty Czech contribution to the coordination of the deterrence measures in the Baltic region that ensure the security of the Baltic states,” Vice Minister V. Umbrasas stressed at the meeting.
Defence cooperation of Lithuania and the Czech Republic
Ministries of Defence of Lithuania and the Czech Republic cooperate on the basis of an agreement on mutual cooperation in various formats – NATO and the EU – signed in 1993.
Czech air force detachments conducted the NATO Air Policing Mission in the Baltic states twice, in 2009 and 2012, also, a Czech rotation is currently conducting the mission from Estonia. Czech soldiers with weaponry and equipment deployed to the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group in Lithuania. The Czech Republic also has several staff officers serving at the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius. The military cooperation is particularly close between the Lithuanian and the Czech Air Forces that are training in joint exercises. Pilots of the Lithuanian Air Force are training on flight simulators in the Czech Republic every year. The Lithuanian Armed Forces also bought different footwear from a Czech manufacturer for over EUR 2 million.
