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Lithuania to join NATO's largest military exercise since 2002

Xinhua, October 6, 2015 Adjust font size:

Around 200 Lithuanian troops and 50 units of military equipment will be involved in NATO military exercise Trident Juncture, announced the country's defense ministry on Monday.

Lithuanian soldiers are to join troops from Belgium, Czech Republic, Estonia, Spain, the United States, Croatia, Latvia, Poland, Romania and Germany for a field training event at the San Gregorio training area near Zaragoza starting mid- October.

According to the defense ministry, the tactical exercise is to be attended by Lithuanian troops which will join the NATO Response Force rotation in 2016.

The exercise started on Oct. 3 in Spain, Italy and Portugal and will continue in some of the territories in Belgium, Canada, the Netherlands, Norway and Germany until Nov. 6.

Lithuanian troops will join more than 36,000 soldiers from 30 NATO and partnering countries.

According to the defense ministry, it is the largest NATO military exercise since 2002.

"With this exercise, NATO shows the Alliance's determination to be prepared for modern warfare," Lithuania's defense ministry said in a statement.

Lithuania, a small Baltic state, has stepped up its military exercises and defense capabilities since tensions in Eastern Europe emerged with the conflict in eastern Ukraine. Endit