Portuguese Navy participates in NATO exercises in Lithuania

Portuguese Navy participates in NATO exercises in Lithuania – Portugal

Around 146 Marine Force personnel were involved in military exercises. By the end of June, 90,000 NATO troops are expected to participate in what will be one of the largest military initiatives since the end of the Cold War.

More than 1,500 Portuguese, Lithuanian and North American soldiers, and 200 military personnel participated this Friday, April 26, in the so-called Brave Griffin 24/II military exercises. On the Portuguese side alone, 146 soldiers from the Marine Force were present, commanded by lieutenant captain, Nuno Correia Marques.

Organized by Lithuania and Poland, the exercises took place on the border between the two countries, more precisely in the Suwalki Gap corridor – a sparsely populated area located between Belarus and the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad. Started last Sunday, April 21, the maneuvers aimed to “test defensive scenarios and tactics”, as indicated by the Portuguese Navy in a statement.

According to Polish television TVP World, the exercises also aimed to “increase readiness and coordination between participating forces”.

In addition to the thousands of soldiers, Polish President Andrzej Duda and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda were also present this Friday, who argued that NATO should be “strongly protected with nuclear weapons”.

“It is Russia who today transfers its nuclear weapons to Belarus, so I have no doubt that the reaction of the NATO countries is necessary. We need an adequate response and, therefore, I think that the entire NATO area must be strongly protected with nuclear weapons and that the Nuclear Sharing program should be extended to the countries on NATO’s eastern flank”, said Andrzej Duda.

On Thursday, April 25th, the Polish president also assured that he had already invited the Prime Minister, Donald Tusk, to start talks from May 1st on the possibility of NATO nuclear weapons being implemented in Poland.

Although the Portuguese marines participated in the exercises for only a week, the maneuvers are scheduled to last until the end of June, and, according to the Lusa agency, a total of more than 90 soldiers are expected from more than 30 countries, in which It will be one of the biggest military initiatives since the end of the Cold War.