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On 4-10 March, Lithuania will take part in the annual NATO Crisis Management Exercise 2009 (CMX 09), which involves civilian and military staffs in national capitals and at NATO Headquarters. The exercise is designed to practice Alliance’s crisis management procedures at a strategic political level.

The exercise will test the decision-making methods and measures that reflect basic principles of the Alliance - collective decision-making and consultations during the crisis.

The following Lithuanian institutions which deal with crisis management will take part in the exercise: the Crisis Prevention and Management Unit of the Office of the Prime Minister, ministries of National Defence, Foreign Affairs, Energy, Health, the Interior, Transport and Communications, Environment, State Security Department, Health Emergency Situations Centre, Fire and Rescue Department under the Ministry of the Interior and Office of the Prime Minister.

The scenario for the exercise is fictitious. The portrayed crisis will focus on a security situation beyond the Euro-Atlantic area that is progressively deteriorating and poses a potential threat to NATO countries and the international community. The scenario features an international peace-keeping operation, a humanitarian crisis, fight against terrorism and potential threats to NATO countries involved in the operation. Military force will not be used during the exercise.

During the exercise, Lithuania will aim to highlight the importance of energy security in NATO’s general security context, to test the existing national decision-making procedures and the implementation of procedures of potential NATO’s response to crisis management in Lithuania, to build on NATO crisis-management expertise of institutions involved in international crisis management.

When writing the scenario and planning the CMX 2009 exercise all 28 NATO Allies and 11 NATO Partner nations have been involved: Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Finland, Georgia, Ireland, Sweden, Switzerland, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, and Ukraine, as well as Mediterranean Dialogue partner Israel. They will also participate in an active phase of the exercise.

This NATO’s 16th CMX 2009 exercise will be attended by diplomats, military and civilian representatives from all NATO countries and their delegations to NATO, and the two NATO Strategic Commands, Allied Command Operations and Allied Command Transformation. Representatives from the United Nations and the International Committee of the Red Cross will also participate in the exercise. The exercise will be headed by the North Atlantic Council, the supervisor is NATO Secretary General Anders Fogh Rasmussen.

As a NATO country, Lithuania will participate in the exercise for the fourth time. However, this is the second when Lithuania has its own national scenario. In 2004, Lithuania took part in the NATO crisis management exercise as an observer.

The NATO crisis management exercise is a technical decision-making exercise designed to examine a fictitious situation and to find a solution that would be suitable for all NATO countries. Due to the lack of time, the CMX 2009 exercise did not take place in 2009 and was scheduled for 2010.