OREANDA-NEWS. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg watched two of NATO’s battlegroups train in Lithuania on Tuesday (20 June 2017). Mr. Stoltenberg observed a river crossing by Allied forces and then met troops taking part in Exercise Iron Wolf. Germany leads the NATO battlegroup in Lithuania, and for the first time it trained with the US-led battlegroup based in Poland. On Monday (19 June 2017) the Secretary General welcomed the Canadian forces which are leading the battlegroup stationed in Latvia. The United Kingdom commands a similar NATO force in Estonia.

Alongside the Lithuanian President, Dalia Grybauskait?, Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Lithuania for holding the exercise and for hosting NATO forces.  He said the four multinational battlegroups now deployed in the eastern part of the Alliance were a sign of NATO unity and the continuing strength of the transatlantic bond, with “soldiers from North America and Europe standing together, ready to defend each other.”