Lithuania plans to send around 40 troops to NATO’s mission in Kosovo following a request from Germany.
A draft resolution on Lithuania’s participation in international operations, registered last week, calls for increasing the total number of troops allowed to be sent to the Kosovo mission to 60. The current mandate permits the deployment of five military personnel.
According to the Defence Ministry, Lithuania currently has one service member stationed in Pristina.
“Discussions at the level of the defence institutions of both countries have determined that the most feasible option for joint participation in international operations is to assign Lithuanian troops to a German military unit participating in the NATO-led international operation in Kosovo,” the explanatory note reads.
Last December, the Defence Ministry received Berlin’s request to assign a Lithuanian platoon-sized unit to a German company.
This unit, along with a national support element and a liaison officer, would form an additional national contingent of around 40 Lithuanian troops.
The German company operates in the area of responsibility of the Kosovo Force’s Regional Command East, where it carries out peacekeeping tasks. Germany’s military contingent in the mission currently consists of about 300 troops.
NATO’s overall force in Kosovo stands at around 4,300, with Italy contributing more than 800 troops and the United States about 600.
Lithuania’s State Defence Council in January approved the proposal to raise the maximum number of troops to be deployed in the NATO-led operation.
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