Some 80 Belgian soldiers, mainly Ardennes Chasseurs, left for Lithuania on Wednesday to reinforce NATO's eastern flank as part of the Atlantic Alliance's 'enhanced forward presence,' against the backdrop of the war in Ukraine, according to local sources.
Their aircraft, a civilian Croatian Fokker 100 chartered by the Ministry of Defence, took off from Melsbroek military airport at around 1.45 p.m.
For almost six months, Belgium will provide a detachment of around 150 men and women who, from 17 August, will form part of a multinational battalion (known in jargon as a 'Battle Group') led by Germany.
These troops operate from a training camp near Rukla in central Lithuania.
Most of the detachment is provided by the Ardennes Chasseurs battalion, stationed at Marche-en-Famenne, with reinforcements from other units, such as the 4th CIS Group (communications and information systems), based in the same garrison, and the 29th Logistics Battalion from Grobbendonk, Antwerp Province.
This long-planned, purely defensive mission marks the sixth time a Belgian detachment has taken part in NATO's 'enhanced forward presence' (eFP) in the Baltic States and Poland, a force set up after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. The force has doubled in size since Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February.
The equipment, including Piranha 8-wheeled armoured vehicles equipped with 30mm and 90mm cannons, was sent to Lithuania by sea.
Many of the Ardennes Chasseurs are on their first mission abroad, explained detachment commander Lieutenant Quentin (surname withheld for security reasons), whose deployment is also the first of its kind.
Despite a "relatively low" (Russian) threat in Lithuania, all the soldiers had to give up their mobile phone sim cards before boarding. However, "unless things get out of hand," they will be able to maintain contact with their families via social networks, but with precautions, added the officer.
"It's a great opportunity to work with other nationalities," said Sergeant Annouk, one of the 25 logisticians on the detachment. The young non-commissioned officer is also on her first mission abroad after five years in the army, she confided.
Belgium has already contributed on several occasions to battle groups deployed in the north-east of NATO territory. There are four there, in Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia and Poland.
This year, from the beginning of March to the beginning of July, Defence also urgently provided a reinforced manoeuvre company to one of the four new battle groups created in south-eastern Europe (Romania, Bulgaria, Hungary and Slovakia) after the invasion of Ukraine. It is expected to make a similar effort next year, a military source told the Belga agency.
In Lithuania, however, the detachment deployed is smaller than usual (150 people instead of around 250) because certain capabilities "such as artillery and engineers" come from other allied countries.
However, the duration of the mission is longer. "We're aligning ourselves" with other nations, explained the Vice Chief of Defence, Lieutenant-General Marc Thys.
