VILNIUS - Two Belgian soldiers who participated in the NATO air policing mission based in northern Lithuania were sent back to their home country on May 8 after being involved in an undisclosed incident with local residents.
Without revealing the exact details of the event, Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut told the Belga news agency on May 8 that the soldiers were returned because of a breach of military regulations.
Other Belgians serving at Lithuania's Zokniai Airport near the city of Siauliai reported seeing the punished soldiers visibly intoxicated in public and involved in a fight.
The Belgian Defense Ministry declined to state precisely what measures would be taken against the expelled soldiers but pledged that an administrative penalty of some sort would be imposed.
News of the incident, the most recent in a series of episodes of drunkenness and fighting involving NATO troops, has soiled an otherwise successful mission full of goodwill between officials from the Baltic states and their Western counterparts.
At noon on March 29, Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt issued an order for the Belgian Air Force to take over air policing responsibilities for all three Baltic states, which are currently unable to keep watch over their air space as mandated by NATO regulations. Within hours, four Belgian F-16s descended on Zokniai, marking the advent of the region's era of complete military integration with Europe and North America.
At present, 43 Belgian officers serve at Zokniai alongside support crews from Denmark, Norway and Great Britain. They run daily exercise missions and survey the Baltic skies for unidentified and stray aircraft.
Yet in spite of a parade of high-level officials having recently visited Zokniai, including trips made by acting Lithuanian President Arturas Paulauskas and Defense Minister Linas Linkevicius on May 10 and Estonian Defense Minister Margus Hanson on May 11, reports about after-hour scuffles involving Belgians in Siauliai have come to dominate local media coverage of the operation.
Following reports that locals had been harassing foreign soldiers only a few days after their arrival in early April, Police Commissioner Vytautas Grigaravicius met with local authorities in Siauliai to discuss heightened security measures to protect the defenders of Baltic airspace.
As a result, police security around areas most often frequented by the soldiers was beefed up, and a midnight curfew was imposed on soldiers who stay at a Siauliai hotel during their Lithuanian tour of duty.
Nonetheless, incidents continued to occur.
While obviously taking internal measures to reign in off-duty behavior of their staff, Belgian authorities maintain a positive public profile regarding the episodes in which their troops have been involved.
"I think this is already old news. They didn't respect the rules, and they will be disciplined," said Gregory Bogaerts of the Belgian mission's information office at Zokniai.
Bogaerts downplayed the reports of public aggression, insisting that the majority of Belgians on duty at Zokniai behave in an orderly manner.
"They often work very long days, sometimes until 8 p.m. After that, they come back to the hotel, take a shower and go out to eat. This is exactly what we would do if we were in Belgium," said Bogaerts.
Lithuanian officials also reported a lack of dissatisfaction either from their troops or from residents of Siauliai.
"We haven't received any complaints," said Deivis Martusevicius, commander of the First Airborne Unit at Zokniai.
Martusevicius added that he hoped to call upon the Lithuanian military police to add a further level of stability to the mission.
Belgium's leading role in the NATO-Baltic air policing mission is set to continue until at least July, after which time they will either renew their mandate or pass it on to a fellow NATO member state.
