The Netherlands will temporarily deploy Patriot air defence missile systems in Lithuania, the Ministry of National Defence of the Republic of Lithuania has announced.
"This summer, the Netherlands decided to deploy Patriot long-range air defence systems in Lithuania for several weeks. A Dutch military unit will be trained in Lithuania together with Lithuanian army units," the statement said.
According to the head of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence, Laurinas Kasciunas, the deployment of Patriot in Lithuania is great news.
"The participation of Dutch soldiers in the NATO Spearhead Force Battalion, the Baltic Air Policing Mission and the NATO Force Integration Unit is of great importance for the security of the Baltic States. With this step, we are also strengthening our air defence cooperation," the minister said.
According to the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, this summer's exercises will test the ability to move air defence equipment and units within the shortest possible time to complete missions.
In mid-March, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said that NATO should abandon the founding act on cooperation with Russia, which would allow for the permanent deployment of military bases near Russia's borders.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, NATO sent battlegroups to Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia as part of its efforts to strengthen its eastern flank, and before that to the Baltic states and Poland. However, due to the NATO-Russia cooperation act, these units are deployed temporarily on a rotational basis.
At the moment, the battlegroups number a total of 10,000 soldiers. Following the summit in Vilnius on 11-12 July, the leaders of the bloc should decide to increase their number to 4-5,000 in each country, or 32-40,000 in total. NATO plans to expand its rapid reaction force to 300,000.