Mogelijkheden voor gebruik EU battlegroup besproken in Londen (en)

On June 19 officials representing the countries preparing to standby in a United Kingdom-led EU Battlegroup i (EU BG) discussed situations that could call for redeploying the EU BG to operations during its standby period next semester of this year.

At the meeting the Defence Policy Directors representing the United Kingdom, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Sweden confirmed that the EU BG was ready for standby while its deployment would be determined by the security situation on the ground in “hot spots” in North Africa, the Middle East, the Balkans and Caucasus.

Lithuanian MoD Policy Director Dr. Vaidotas Urbelis highlighted at the meeting that deploying an EU BG in any situation is a decision of political nature which is made by and binding to all the EU member states equally.

In the margins of the meeting the Lithuanian Policy Director also took part in bilateral sessions with his counterparts of the UK and Swedish Ministries of Defence.

The UK-led EU BG will be on standby concurrently with the term of the Lithuanian Presidency i of the Council of the European Union, i.e. the second semester of this year starting on July 1. One of Lithuania’s priorities as Presidency country is strengthening the EU Common Security and Defence Policy (CSDP) via developing the EU multinational rapid response crises management capabilities, the EU BGs, and promoting European contribution to multinational operations.

Lithuania has commissioned approximately 120 military personnel for standby in the EU BG.

All the military personnel assigned for the standby will be performing duty in their regular service locations in their home countries while maintaining high readiness, and in case of the EU BG activation they will be ready to deploy on the ground within 5-10 days and capable of sustaining there for 30-120 days.