Exercise Iron Sword 2014 Starts in Lithuania

The opening of the NATO exercise – which is being conducted on multiple locations with the participation of 2,500 troops from nine nations – was held in the Pabrade training area on November 3. The Hungarian Defence Forces are participating in the exercise with close to 140 soldiers. Most participating personnel are drawn from the HDF 5th “Bocskai István" Infantry Brigade.

The event started with a flag-hoisting ceremony, and then Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas delivered a ceremonial speech. The Minister pointed out the importance of the exercise, the interoperability among nations and that it is the first time that Lithuania as a NATO member state is hosting such a large-scale exercise.

In his speech, Zoltán Pecze, Hungary’s ambassador to Vilnius stressed the importance of NATO’s Article 5. He said that “This exercise and the troops lined up here are proof of the fact that Article 5 is not merely words written on paper, but a real proof of mutual solidarity among the member states". Finally, Maj.-Gen. Almantas Leika, the Commander of the Lithuanian Land Force welcomed the troops of the nations participating in the exercise and expressed special thanks to the Hungarians for having been the firsts to respond to the request made to NATO member states.

Exercise “Iron Sword 2014" is being held on multiple locations in Lithuania between November 2 and 14. After the NATO Wales Summit in September, Minister of Defence Csaba Hende announced that Hungary would join the military exercises in the region as part of the reinforcement measures.