/Agencia Reuters
Lithuania could contribute mine-sweeping capabilities and resources for the headquarters of a potential mission to protect navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, according to the Baltic country’s Chief of Defence, General Raimundas Vaiksnoras.
“We are focusing mainly on sending mine-sweeping capabilities and command for the headquarters. Planning is underway; we want to respond to whatever is necessary,” Vaiksnoras stated at a press conference in Vilnius.
On Monday, 11 May, Lithuania’s State Defence Council, chaired by the president, indicated in a proposal to parliament that the country should send up to 40 soldiers and personnel to assist the United States in the Strait of Hormuz.
On Saturday the 9th, Britain declared that it would deploy a warship to the Middle East in preparation for a possible multinational effort aimed at protecting navigation in the waterway. This once conditions permit.
Britain’s ability to participate in any protection mission will be limited by the overstretched Royal Navy, which is now much smaller than in the past and has had to retire some vessels before replacements are available.
In early May, the German minesweeper Fuldazarped from the Kiel-Wik naval base in the Baltic Sea, heading to the Mediterranean, where it will initially join a NATO mine defence force. The vessel is specialised in detecting and destroying naval mines and, in the event of an international deployment in the Strait of Hormuz, would be closer to its possible operating location.
Meanwhile, in late April, Italy reported that it is prepared to deploy up to four vessels, including two minesweepers, as part of an international mission to clear the waterway, according to Giuseppe Berutti Bergotto, Chief of Staff of the Italian Navy.
