Over 30 institutions test Lithuania’s comprehensive defence readiness

More than 30 Lithuanian institutions tested their readiness for peacetime, hybrid threats and wartime scenarios during comprehensive defence exercises held on September 7 and 8, LRT reported, citing Tomas Godliauskas, head of the comprehensive defence association.

“Our main mission over these two days was to test and assess how the comprehensive defence model works, and whether the critical gaps identified in the state either do not currently exist or have been addressed with certain shortcomings,” Godliauskas said at a news conference on Tuesday.

Participants were divided into three groups and asked to respond to the same threat scenario from different perspectives.

The state-level group included the Government, the Presidential Office, the Seimas, the Ministry of National Defence and the Ministry of Transport and Communications.

The municipal group included the municipalities of Vilnius, Kaunas and Ukmergė, as well as the Lithuanian Confederation of Industrialists, the Lithuanian Riflemen’s Union, the Lithuanian Red Cross, Telia, rural communities and representatives of the armed forces.

The public group was represented by members of the academic community, media, cultural organisations, the defence industry, the cybersecurity sector, the diaspora, scouts and other civil society organisations.

The organisers said the exercises were one of three stages in developing Lithuania’s comprehensive defence model and its implementation plan. The final conclusions are expected to be presented to the public in October.

In early June, G. Melcheras, head of the US New Generation Warfare Center, which is carrying out the study, said the assessment consisted of three stages: examining good practices from foreign countries, implementing practical measures and reassessing those methods.