NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller marked the first anniversary of NATO’s enhanced forward presence in Lithuania during a ceremony on Monday (5 February 2018). Alongside Lithuanian President Dalia Grybauskaitė and Allied representatives, Gottemoeller paid tribute to Allied forces in Rukla.

The Deputy Secretary General stressed that NATO's enhanced forward presence sends a powerful message that the Alliance is strong, united and will treat an "attack on one, as an attack on us all."

In Lithuania, Germany currently leads forces from Croatia, France, the Netherlands and Norway. The battlegroup, which first deployed in January 2017, serves alongside Lithuanian troops to defend the Alliance and deter any possible aggression. Together with the three other battlegroups in Estonia, Latvia and Poland, these forces form part of the biggest reinforcement to NATO’s collective deterrence and defence in a generation.

Earlier in the day, the Deputy Secretary General met with President Grybauskaitė for talks on NATO's enhanced forward presence, and preparations for the Brussels Summit in July.