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On the 3rd of September, 2015, President Dalia Grybauskaitė together with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg, currently on a visit to Lithuania, participated in the inauguration of the NATO Force Integration Unit.

The ceremony in Vilnius marked the activation of NFIUs not only in our country, but also in Latvia, Estonia, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria. According to the President, the fact that an official announcement that such units have been activated in six countries across the region has been made in Lithuania demonstrates that the Alliance values Lithuania’s leadership and work accomplished to strengthen regional security

“The NATO Force Integration Units activated today in Lithuania and five other member nations in the region sends a strong signal that we are ready to respond and to counter any kind of threats. NATO remains united and effective,” the President said.

The new headquarters will reinforce national security. It will closely observe the security situation around Lithuania, ensuring a rapid deployment of NATO’s Very High Readiness Task Force, if needed. The rapid response force will be able to move in to Lithuania within 48 hours.

The NATO Force Integration Unit Lithuania will also have a role in allied exercising. This coming October, a large-scale exercise will be held in the Baltic States where the Very High Readiness Task Force will be engaged – for the first time in Lithuania. Lithuanian and allied servicemen will be trained to respond to hybrid war threats. It will be the first ever such exercise conducted by the Alliance.

NATO Force Integration Unit will boost readiness and deterrence

“The Establishment of a NATO headquarters in Lithuania and six other Allies testifies that NATO is taking all necessary steps to provide security to its member states and to be prepared to implement the tasks necessary to deter anyone attempting on the security and territorial integrity of any of the Allies,” the Lithuanian Minister of National Defence Juozas Olekas said at the inauguration of the NATO Force Integration Unit in Vilnius on 3 September.

According to the Minister, the establishment of the unit is one of the most significant steps in terms of strengthening NATO collective defence taken over several past decades.

The key mission of the NFIU is to prepare for and then facilitate if needed the rapid deployment of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF), whose leading elements are ready to deploy to the conflict area within 48 hours.

The Chief of Defence of Lithuania Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Žukas underscored the practical meaning of the NFIU for the enhancement of defence of Lithuania and the wider region. He also underlined that the NFIU Lithuania would facilitate integration and coordination of NATO forces’ activities in Lithuania.   

“In military terms the NFIU will ensure a better liaison with higher NATO commands, help us provide a superior and quicker Host Nation Support for allied forces, and facilitate their integration into the readiness for collective national defence and its implementation,” the Lithuanian Chief of Defence said.

NFIUs - an important step in implementing Wales agreements

The establishment of these six NFIUs in six Allies, Bulgaria, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland and Romania, was agreed by NATO Heads of State and Government at the Wales Summit in 2014. NATO will take further steps at the Warsaw Summit and beyond. All the six NFIUs were officially activated on Monday, September 1.

All the six NFIUs are planned to reach full operational capability ahead of the NATO Summit in Warsaw in 2016.   

Activation of the NFIUs is part of NATO's fundamental adaptation in the face of security challenges from the east and the south. 

NATO Force Integration Units are small command and control headquarters whose key mission is to facilitate the rapid deployment of the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force (VJTF) and additional rapid response elements into the region if needed.

The NFIUs will have a key role in planning, exercising, and assisting potential reinforcements, providing a vital link between national forces and multinational NATO forces.

The NFIU in Lithuania will operate as an intermediate unit facilitating interoperability among national and the region-deployed allied forces. It will also contribute to enhance allied training and exercises, and liaison with NATO’s operational commands.

Staff at the NFIU will cooperate with national forces to identify traffic junctions, key logistical and other necessary infrastructure in the country which will facilitate the quickest possible redeployment of NATO’s response forces into the Baltic region.

The NFIU in Vilnius will comprise roughly 40 military personnel, half of which will be provided by other allied nations. The international staff will comprise representatives from more than 10 NATO member states.

The NFIU in Lithuania is under command of Colonel (Danish Army) Jakob Søgård Larsen. Lieutenant Colonel (Lithuanian Land Force) Mindaugas Petkevičius is acting as second in command.

Information provided by the Press Service of the President and the MOND