President Dalia Grybauskaitė flew into Afghanistan for a surprise visit to Lithuania's 145 troops serving there on Friday. Photo by Džoja Gunda Barysaitė/Lithuanian President's Office

VILNIUS — President Dalia Grybauskaitė flew into Afghanistan for a surprise visit to Lithuania’s 145 troops serving there on Friday.

Grybauskaitė said the soldiers were making Lithuania stronger by representing the country well and bringing the experience home with them.

Grybauskaitė, accompanied by chief-of-staff Major General Arvydas Pocius, visited Lithuanian troops in Afghanistan on Friday in the Ghor and Kandahar provinces and Kabul.

“No matter how far from your homeland you serve, your work and dedication protect the interests of Lithuania and make it stronger. The experience you have gained is and will be needed. You are the pillar of further modernization of the Lithuanian Armed Forced. I wish you to serve safely and successfully here and – when you come back home — in Lithuania,” the president said.

During her visits, she told troops that their good work had made Lithuania seen as a reliable partner in the eyes of other countries.

Grybauskaitė visited the troops to get first hand information about the activities of the Lithuanian troops serving within the International Security Assistance Force. While in the country, she also discussed the agenda of the Lithuanian-led Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT) in Ghor.

The Lithuanian-led team in Ghor, which includes troops from the United States, Japan, Denmark, Ukraine and Georgia not only focuses on the military objectives, but also civil development work.

A Chaghcharan man gives Grybauskiatė a sitar. Photo by Džoja Gunda Barysaitė/Lithuanian President's Office

Members of the local Chaghcharan community held poetry readings and a concert at a public library built by the Provincial Reconstruction Team for the president to show their support for the PRT.

Grybauskaitė also visited the Lithuanian Special Operations Forces deployed in the southern Kandahar Province.

Lithuania has 145 troops in Afghanistan, which have served since July 2003. One Lithuanian soldier has been killed while serving in the country.

This article is free to view. To read Baltic Reports’ subscription-only articles, click here.