27 Nov Defending Baltics International Conference Takes Place in Vilnius
Posted at 10:25h
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The first international conference “Defending Baltics: War Lessons from Ukraine”, held in Vilnius, provided an excellent platform for the security community to come together and share important insights on the lessons learned from the Russian attack on Ukraine. The conference brought together more than 400 military personnel, representatives of national security institutions, military industry specialists, defence academics, journalists and experts from non-governmental organisations. Such a diverse range of participants provided an opportunity to cover tactical, operational and strategic aspects of war and defence, which are relevant for the Baltic region and NATO collective defence and deterrence planning.
Although NATO SHAPE Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations Maj-Gen. Matthew J. Van Wagenen stated that “The Alliance’s war against Russia would be different, as the West has completely different capabilities and resources than Ukraine”, this says nothing about our own capacity to defend and strike on NATO’s Eastern flank. This is our land, and we must be prepared to defend it ourselves and to enable the allies to come to our aid through the idea of host nation support. That is what both the Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Gen. Raimundas Vaikšnoras and the Chief of Defence Staff, Maj. Remigijus Baltrėnas underlined in their talks.
Ukraine offers a chance for the Baltic States and other NATO members to strengthen their defence capabilities and prevent another war from breaking out. This conference is just the start of a long-term cooperation that will strengthen the resilience and security of our Alliance.
The international conference was initiated and organized by Civic Resilience Initiative, Locked N’ Loaded, Eastern Europe Studies Centre, Ministry of National Defence of Republic of Lithuania, and Embassy of Sweden in Vilnius.