Lithuania to conduct largest national military drill in its history

VILNIUS, May 30 (Xinhua) -- Lithuania is to conduct the largest national military drill in its history Thunder Storm 2018 amid ongoing security tensions in the region, the country's Defense Ministry announced on Wednesday.

Thunder Storm 2018 starts on Friday and will continue for two weeks. Almost 9,000 local soldiers and officers from the country's interior security authorities are to attend the military training, according to the Defense Ministry.

During Thunder Storm 2018, Lithuanian Armed Forces will be joined by allied military force from NATO's Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) battalion.

Thunder Storm 2018 is held in the middle of intensive schedule of national and international military drills taking place in Lithuania and the Baltic States.

"Every training has its own task, however it is important to Lithuania that the assurance of security of the country and the region is what connects all these trainings," the Chief of Joint Staff Major General Vitalijus Vaiksnoras told local press conference on Wednesday.

All of the exercises are strictly defensive in character and oriented at ensuring the allies remain sovereign, claimed the Lithuanian defense authorities.

In recent years, Lithuania, a small Baltic State with a population of less than 3 million and the Eastern-flank member country of NATO, has stepped up its military training, increased defense spending and asked for an increased presence of allied armed forces citing security tensions in the Eastern Europe. Enditem