A group of ships from one of the Standing NATO Maritime Groups is visiting the Lithuanian seaport of Klaipeda, the army said on January 22, Report informs referring to The Baltic Times.
The four ships – the Almirante Juan De Borbon F102 (Spain) and Luigi Rizzo F595 (Italy) frigates and the Cantabria A15 (Spain) and Bonn A1413 (Germany) logistics support ships – arrived on Sunday and will stay until Wednesday.
Rear Admiral Joaquin Ruiz Escagedo, who leads the ship unit, has met with the Chief of Lithuania's Navy Captain (Navy) Giedrius Premeneckas and Klaipeda Mayo Arvydas Vaitkus.
"The visit of the NATO ships underlines the strong ties between Lithuania and NATO and the important role of the Lithuanian Forces within the Alliance," Lithuania's Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ships are currently on standby as part of NATO's SNMG1 and are deployed in the Baltic Sea to ensure allied solidarity and commitment to collective defense.
NATO has a total of four SNMGs.
One such group visited Klaipeda in December.