Czech defense minister, chief of defense to visit troops training in Lithuania

VILNIUS – Czech Defense Minister Martin Stropnicki and Chief of Defense General Josef Becvaro are coming on a working visit to Lithuania on Wednesday to visit their troops in training with their Lithuanian peers.

The guests will observe a joint training exercise with Lithuanian and Czech troops in the Urban Warfare Training Facility in Pabrade, eastern Lithuania, the Lithuanian Defense Ministry said.

At the end of the trip to Lithuania, the Czech delegation is planned to hold a brief meeting with Lithuania's Defense Minister Raimundas Karoblis and Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Jonas Vytautas Z ukas at the Vilnius airport.

Roughly 150 Czech soldiers were deployed in Lithuania in early January as a rotational force implementing the NATO assurance measures in the Baltic states. They will train in joint exercises with Lithuanian soldiers until mid-March.

This is the first time Czech rotational forces are deployed for several months of training in Lithuania.