The Lithuanian government has adopted a special resolution that will allow military personnel from other countries to take part in large-scale exercises on Lithuanian territory, as reported by LRT.
This is the international exercise Baltic Operations 2024 (BALTOPS), which will take place in Lithuania from June 4 to 21.
According to the Minister of National Defense of Lithuania, Laurinas Kasčiūnas, a special resolution is required if the number of military and civilian personnel arriving in Lithuania for the exercise exceeds 1600 people.
It is known that up to 10,000 military and government officials will participate in the BALTOPS 2024 exercises.
“It’s the biggest exercise we’ve ever had,” Kasčiūnas stressed.
According to him, the exercises are aimed at preparing the armed forces of various countries and enhancing military response to ensure freedom of navigation and security in the Baltic Sea.
It is planned that warships with crews, additional personnel, and naval personnel from the United States, Germany, the Netherlands, Spain, Poland, France, the United Kingdom, Denmark, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Estonia, Latvia, Belgium, Portugal and Italy will arrive in Lithuania to participate in the exercises.
NATO military exercises
In the first half of 2024, NATO has planned a series of exercises under the general code name Steadfast Defender-24. One of the countries hosting military personnel will be Poland.
Additionally, from March 4 to 15, large-scale military exercises involving NATO countries took place in northern Finland, Sweden, and Norway under the name Nordic Response 24, with the participation of around 20,000 servicemen from 14 countries.
