Lithuania and the Czech Republic have agreed to cooperate on training specialists to operate newly acquired radar systems.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas and his Czech counterpart Jaromír Černý met on Thursday, with their discussions centring on NATO air defence and the agenda for the alliance's upcoming summit in Ankara.
The two ministers agreed to share technical expertise and information to ensure the effective operational use of radars recently purchased by Lithuania.
Kaunas said the acquisition of passive radar systems is nearing completion. He described the systems as a key component of integrated air defence, particularly in countering drone incursions and surveillance balloons violating Lithuanian airspace, a growing concern along NATO's border with Russia and Belarus.
The Czech minister was in Lithuania to visit Czech troops serving as part of the multinational battlegroup based in Rukla – one of the enhanced forward presence units deployed across the Baltic states and Poland following Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014.
Kaunas thanked the Czech Republic for its broader contribution to regional security, citing its repeated participation in the Baltic Air Policing mission – through which NATO allies take turns patrolling the airspace of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania – as well as its contribution to the NATO Force Integration Unit in Lithuania.
The ministers also discussed long-term support for Ukraine. Kaunas invited the Czech Republic to join the demining coalition led jointly by Lithuania and Iceland, one of several multinational initiatives aimed at preparing Ukraine for post-war reconstruction.
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