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The transfer of full responsibility to Afghanistan’s authorities depends on the numbers and capacity of Afghanistan’s national security forces, availability of development assistance as well as on the government’s effectiveness, Lithuania’s Vice-Minister of Foreign Affairs Šarūnas Adomavičius said at the consultations among the U.S.A., Italy, Spain and Lithuania, which lead Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRT) in Western Afghanistan. The workshop consultations started on 8 December in Vilnius.

According to the Vice-Minister, implementation of Afghanistan reconstruction plans and provision of support to the new government of Afghanistan need to be combined with preconditions for withdrawal from Afghanistan.

“At present, it is important to engage with the new Afghanistan’s Government and to set benchmarks that would facilitate the creation of conditions necessary for the start of a phased withdrawal from Afghanistan”, Vice-Minister Š.Adomavičius said at the opening of the consultations among the countries which lead PRT under the Regional Command West of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The workshop consultations are taking place on 8-9 December.

The Vice-Minister also noted that Lithuania together with its allies and partners is planning to continue leading or co-leading the PRT in Ghor province until the end of 2013.

High-ranking officials from foreign and defence ministries and military officers of the countries, which lead the reconstruction of provinces in Western Afghanistan, as well as representatives from other states and international organizations that provide assistance to that region gathered in Vilnius to exchange their experience on how to make better use of the available resources for the reconstruction of Afghanistan and to discuss ways to improve the coordination of actions in the western part of Afghanistan.

During the consultations, over 60 participants from Lithuania, the U.S.A., Italy, Spain, Denmark, Croatia, NATO Headquarters in Brussels and the military headquarters in Europe and Afghanistan, the European Union Police Mission (EUPOL) in Afghanistan, the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), also the ambassadors residing in Lithuania discuss the security situation in Afghanistan and possibilities to strengthen the support for Afghanistan’s national security forces. Measures of accelerating the reconstruction and development of Western Afghanistan are also among the topics of the consultations.

The consultations are held at the initiative of Political Director of Lithuania’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs Eitvydas Bajarūnas and his counterpart at the Ministry of National Defence Andrius Krivas.

More that 40 countries currently participate in the ISAF operation in Afghanistan. Their forces are divided into five regions: Northern, Southern, Western, Eastern and Capital Kabul. The Italian-led Regional Command West of ISAF is responsible for four provinces. Since summer 2005, Lithuania has led the PRT in the Ghor Province, which is one of the four provinces. Around 150 Lithuanian soldiers are deployed in this province. The main task of Lithuania’s mission in Ghor is to aid the authorities of Afghanistan to strengthen their influence in the province, to guarantee security and to create appropriate conditions for the reconstruction of the province.

The military and civilian personnel from Croatia, Denmark, Georgia, Japan, Romania, Ukraine and the U.S.A. also serve and work in the PRT in Ghor. Currently, the tenth shift of the Lithuanian troops serves there. Special Operations Force Squadron “Aitvaras” is part of ISAF operation in the South of Afghanistan. For Lithuania this is the largest international operation considering the participating military personnel as well as the funds that are allocated to the operation and to development cooperation projects.