The Diplomat
The Minister of Defense, Margarita Robles, visited yesterday the Spanish contingent deployed in the Tactical Air Detachment (DAT) Vilkas, in Lithuania, where she expressed her wish that “this war ends soon and people stop dying as they are dying in Ukraine”.
A total of 140 Spanish military personnel and eight F-18 aircraft are currently part of this reinforcement detachment of NATO’s eastern flank, integrated in the Baltic Air Police (BAP) -in which the member countries of the Atlantic Alliance contribute on a rotating basis-. Since the beginning of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the DAT Vilkas (which means wolf in Lithuanian) has taken on other tasks, such as border surveillance or training. The bulk of the contingent is based at the Siauliai base.
“It is a source of pride to know that our Armed Forces are always working for and for peace with efficiency, training and preparation,” said the minister in her words of thanks to the detachment’s members. “Hopefully this war will end soon and people will stop dying as they are dying in Ukraine,” she continued. “NATO and Spain, as a serious and committed ally, owe you and will always owe you an enormous debt of gratitude. Congratulations for making Spain an international presence,” added Robles, who traveled to Lithuania accompanied by the Chief of Defense Staff (JEMAD), Admiral General Teodoro López Calderón.
On her arrival at the Siauliai air base, the minister, who was also accompanied by the Spanish ambassador to Lithuania, José María Robles, was received by the chief of the General Staff of the Republic of Lithuania, lieutenant general Valdemaras Rupsys; the Lithuanian deputy minister of National Defense, Zilvinas Tomkus; and the acting chief of the Siauliai air base, lieutenant colonel Eligijus Ruksnaitis.
At the Vilkas Tactical Air Detachment, Margarita Robles also attended the raising of the flag and an act of homage to the fallen in commemoration of the Armed Forces Day, which will be celebrated next May 28. Before concluding the visit, Deputy Minister Zilvinas Tomkus expressed his gratitude for the continued presence of Spanish troops in the area. “It is very important for us that your soldiers are in Lithuania. I thank you for being here and that your soldiers are protecting our security in our region,” he said.
The accession of the Baltic countries to NATO in 2004 allowed the allied airspace to be extended to northeastern Europe bordering Russia. The alliance decided to create the BAP to make up for the lack of a combat air force by the new members, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania. Following the invasion of the Crimean peninsula by the Russian Federation, the Alliance implemented in 2014 a series of deterrence and response measures, including the integration of all NATO air defense systems.
Since 2006, Spain has participated eight times in this mission and has served as lead nation in four of them. Its service will end on August 1, when the Spanish aircraft will be relieved by Hungarian aircraft. Between August 22 and September 12, 2022, four Eurofighters of the Spanish Armed Forces are scheduled to be deployed in Amari, Estonia, in support of the German air detachment in this Baltic country and to carry out interoperability activities of German and Spanish Eurofighters.
