Commandant’s visit to NATO Headquarters and the European Defence Agency

On 8th-11th May 2016, the Commandant of the Baltic Defence College (BALTDEFCOL) Major General Vitalijus Vaikšnoras conducted a working visit to Belgium.

During his visit to NATO Headquarters in Brussels, the Commandant met with Military Representatives (MILREP) of the member countries of NATO and EU. Major General Vaikšnoras briefed the MILREPs on Baltic Defence College, its vision, mission as well as ongoing projects and plans for the future. Views on current defence and security developments around the world were shared and future cooperation between the college and their respective countries was discussed. BALTDEFCOL’s main areas of interest include professional exchanges, deepening the cooperation between the college and their respective defence forces and in particular with their PME institutions.

The Commandant visited the European Defence Agency (EDA) for to meet the leadership of the Cooperation Planning and Support Directorate. As this was the first visit conducted to the EDA from BALTDEFCOL, briefings on both organizations were given. Exchange of experts in order to familiarize ourselves with each other’s institutions and identify possible areas of cooperation was agreed. Such interactions will deepen mutual understanding between personnel of the organizations. Both parties acknowledged that the EU should be better represented in the college’s curricula and the general EU domain needs to be increased.

EDA acts as a catalyst, promotes collaborations, launches new initiatives and introduces solutions to improve defence capabilities (www.eda.europa.eu)