News

The Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania Andrius Krivas chairs a meeting of the Steering Committee of the NATO Energy Security Centre of Excellence (NATO ENSEC COE) on 19-20 April in Chalon-sur-Saône, France. This is already the seventh meeting of the NATO ENSEC COE’s Steering Committee.

In the meeting, the representative of the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania Rimas Ališauskas presented Lithuania’s position and emphasized the country’s permanent attention to the activities of the Vilnius-based ENSEC COE related to NATO’s tasks of collective defence. A lot of attention was dedicated to the protection of critical energy infrastructure, especially in ensuring receiving countries’ effective support in countries where NATO troops are deployed. NATO has assessed that the protection of critical energy infrastructure is one of the key elements for strengthening the Alliance’s resilience to hybrid threats. In this regard, Lithuania intends to increase funding for the centre’s activities in order to ensure necessary expertise in the field of the protection of critical energy infrastructure.

The meeting of the Steering Committee has brought together the centre’s establishing nations, the countries that have joined or are planning to join the ENSEC COE. The participants were acquainted with the 2015 report on the center’s activities and financial audit as well as objectives for the nearest future. The centre’s representatives briefed the participants of the meeting about the procedures for the United States and the Czech Republic’s joining the ENSEC COE.

Germany, which participated in the meeting as an observer, announced its intention to join the ENSEC COE and delegate two representatives. The members of the Steering Committee welcomed Germany’s decision and committed Lithuania, as the host country, and other countries that had joined the ENSEC COE to submit proposals on the legal and structural arrangements for Germany’s joining the ENSEC COE.

France invited to organise the Committee’s circuit meeting in Chalon-sur-Saône, where the French Army Fuel Service’s Joint Base for Oil Provisioning is located. The Army Fuel Service ensures that France is represented and participates in the activities of the Vilnius-based ENSEC COE. The side events of the meeting were attended by the Mayor of the city, the President of the region of Chalon, the Commanders of the Army Fuel Service and the Joint Base for Oil Provisioning.

The national Energy Security Center was established in July 2011 at the initiative of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Lithuania and the Ministry of National Defence of Lithuania. The NATO ENSEC COE was accredited in 2012. Its establishing nations are Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, France, Italy, and Turkey. The United Kingdom and Georgia joined the centre in 2014. Representatives of the Czech Republic and Canada also participate in the center’s activities. The ENSEC COE’s establishment has reinforced Lithuania’s position on energy security issues within NATO and internationally. Colonel Gintaras Bagdonas is the incumbent Director of the ENSEC COE.

The ENSEC COE helps to increase energy efficiency in the army and to strengthen critical competencies in the field of the protection of critical infrastructure. The center analyses aspects of military energy efficiency and protection of critical energy infrastructure, identifies potential threats and submits proposals to the Alliance on how to address these threats effectively, organises training and exercises.