Other events in Baltic States

On Friday, the flag of the international peace keeping military session Baltic Spirit 2008 was lowered and the farewell ceremony to the squad of soldiers KFOR-19 going to Kosovo was held.

The closing ceremony of the military session was attended by Lithuanian Prime Minister Gediminas Kirkilas, who was introduced to the progress, goals and results of the exercises. The final stage of Baltic Spirit 2008 was observed and the closing ceremony was attended by Deputy National Defence Minister Antanas Valys, chiefs of Lithuanian and foreign armed forces, Prince Joachim of Denmark, foreign ambassadors and the representatives of local authorities.

According to primary evaluation, the main goal of the exercises Baltic Spirit 2008 – to improve interoperability of international forces in peacekeeping operations – was achieved. The soldiers performed their tasks well, and are prepared to take part in international operations, reported the National Defence Ministry.

The military trainings took place in the polygon of Pagudone (the district of Telsiai), on September 14-19. The trainings were attended by about 800 soldiers from Denmark, Estonia, the United States, Latvia and Lithuania. It was the biggest international military training session in Lithuania this year. The exercises were organized by the Lithuanian National Defence Volunteer Forces.

The flag of this training session in Lithuania was raised for the third time. In 2004, the training exercises were held in Ignalina, and in 2006 – they took place in Klaipeda.