Hungarian Chief of Defence visits Lithuania

The multifaceted relations of Hungary with Lithuania – in accordance with the traditions of the past – are particularly friendly, cooperative, productive and progressive. Therefore it is no surprise that the objective of the visit of the Hungarian Chief of Defence in Vilnius – where Brigadier General Vilmantas Tamošitis, Chief of the Litvanian Joint Staff and the Hungarian Ambassador to Vilnius Zoltán Pecze welcomed the Hungarian delegation led by General Tibor Benkő – on 28th November was to further strengthen the military diplomatic ties existing since 1997.

The Hungarian Chief of Defence met with his counterpart, the Lithuanian Chief of Defence Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius, in the Ministry of Defence then he was received in a courtesy visit by Lithuanian Deputy Minister of Defence Antanas Valys. During their meeting they touched upon the tasks of Baltic air policing, issues of planned and ongoing NATO exercises and the present state of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence operating in Lithuania.

Expanding the NATO Integrated Missile and Air Defence System (NATIMADS) to the air space of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania was a task to be solved after the 2004 NATO accession of these Baltic countries. The execution of Air Policing tasks must also be arranged since these countries do not possess any tactical air force capabilities. As a member of NATIMADS, Hungary is committed to securing the air space sovereignty of the Alliance therefore it will play an active role in this activity between 2015 and 2018. With its participation in the operation Hungary will provide a significant contribution to the collective defence of NATO. It is also a good example of multinational cooperation in accordance with the Smart Defence Concept of NATO.

As a continuation of his official programme in Lithuania General Tibor Benkő participated in a plenary negotiation to discuss the present situation of the Lithuanian armed forces, about which he was comprehensively informed by his Lithuanian counterpart. The Connected Forces Initiative (CFI), which is aimed both at the expansion of smart defence and at the maintenance of the excellence of cooperation capabilities during operations, was also touched upon. Another major task of the CFI is to maintain and increase the capabilities and efficiency of cooperation within the Alliance and with partner countries as well as to promote the efficient and economical use of the available technologies.

An important part of the meeting was the visit paid to the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence, established in Vilnius on 1st January 2011. The objective of the Centre is to create an approach that takes into consideration the potential methodology and fields of using existing energy resources utilised in training, exercises, operations and daily activities with regards to energy security. The Hungarian Chief of Defence was informed in detail about the practical execution of these endeavours by Lieutenant Colonel Nicolas Henry, the acting director of the centre during a personal meeting on 29th November.

On the second day of his visit, General Tibor Benkő visited the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces Headquarters with Lieutenant General Arvydas Pocius. There they were given a briefing on the establishment, organization and tasks of the Special Forces as well as the possibilities for present and future operational deployments. The Chiefs of Defence agreed to share training and operational lessons learned by the two armed forces in the future, which will be an important contribution to the further improvement of the Special Forces of both parties.