First Group of Hungarian Troops Arrives in Lithuania to Join NATO Exercises
Szöveg: honvedelem.hu / MTI | 2014. október 30. 9:00The first group from a 140-strong unit of the Hungarian Defence Forces has arrived in Lithuania to participate in military exercises, in accordance with the measures taken at the Wales NATO Summit to reinforce the eastern flank of the Alliance, the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania released on its website on Tuesday.
The first group of around 20 Hungarian soldiers with the military equipment – more than 30 transport vehicles and 10 containers – has arrived to the Baltic country. The rest of the company is going to arrive in the Baltic state on October 30.
“There are numerous historical links between Lithuania and Hungary, and I appreciate Hungary’s initiative to be the first European ally to respond to the changes in the geopolitical situation and the NATO Wales decisions and to contribute to NATO reinforcement measures on ground", Juozas Olekas, Lithuanian Minister of National Defence said, as quoted by the website of the ministry.
Estonian news portal Delfi has reported that the appearance of foreign troops caused a stir among the local people, because they initially took them to be Russian troops crossing Lithuanian territory from Russia towards Kaliningrad. Many people took photos of the Hungarian soldiers and combat vehicles.
The Hungarian soldiers are to be deployed in Lithuania until the end of the year. First, they will participate in Exercise Iron Sword, to be held between November 2 and 14, which involves 2,500 troops from nine NATO member countries.
Together with a Lithuanian company and US companies, the Hungarians will be incorporated into a battalion-sized unit, which will take part in various combined exercises and training events. They will be stationed in Rukla, where they will be co-located with US troops.
Photo: kam.lt
