Deputy Prime Minister, Minister of Defence, Étienne Schneider, travelled yesterday to Lithuania at the invitation of Lithuania Minister of Defence Juozas Olekas, where he is visiting a contingent of the Luxembourg Army currently on operational deployment in the country.
The visit was conducted in the presence of Belgian Minister of Defence, Steven Vandeput, and followed a Government Cabinet meeting in September, during which the participation of the Luxembourg Army in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation's (NATO) Readiness Action Plan was agreed upon.
The 'Readiness Action Plan', or RAP, was first approved by the Atlantic Alliance at a Wales summit in September 2014. In order to reassure NATO members in Eastern Europe, the plan aims to provide response to Russia's approach to the Ukrainian crisis, perceived as a threat to security in the Baltic States in particular. The RAP provides for a continued presence of allied land or air forces in the territories of countries which request it.
Luxembourg is contributing to this effort alongside a Belgian contingent, deployed in Lithuaia from 28 September to 1 November 2015. The Belgian-Luxembourg contingent also consists of multinational training in field operations by promoting interoperability between Lithuanian, Belgian and Luxembourgish units.
The Luxembourg contingent is composed of 46 soldiers and is integrated into the Belgian battalion manoeuvre 'Bevrijding / 5 Ligne' of Bourg-Leopold and acts as one of the infantry companies of the battalion.
Photo by Defence Leadership
