On Thursday, 7 July 2022, Polish President Andrzej Duda will visit the Mobile Command Post of the Multinational Division North-East located on the Suwałki Gap, where he will meet with the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda. The two presidents will then visit the Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas Logistics Battalion in Marijampolė.

The meeting of the Presidents of Poland and Lithuania in the Suwałki Gap area has a symbolic dimension. It is an area around Suwałki, Augustów and Sejny connecting Poland with Lithuania and the rest of the Baltic States and at the same time separating Russia’s Kaliningrad Oblast from Belarus.

It is the only land connection between the Baltic States and the rest of NATO and the European Union. In the wake of the war in Ukraine, concerns have been raised that the Suwałki Gap at the Polish-Lithuanian border, called the ‘NATO bottleneck’, could be attacked by the Russians.

According to the Ministry of Defence’s Operations Centre, the gap is mainly the area of responsibility of the 16th Mechanised Division, particularly the 15th Mechanised Brigade, and a multinational battalion battle group under the eFP (enhanced forward presence) initiative with the US as a framework state. In addition, allies from Romania, the UK and Croatia serve there. On a day-to-day basis, the group cooperates with the 15th Brigade. Poland plays a special role in the eFP initiative – it is one of the host countries, but also a delegating country.

The Ministry of National Defence notes that an important element of building a security system in this part of Poland is cooperation with Lithuania. The NATO Multinational Division-North East Command, which coordinates the activities of the battle groups of the NATO Enhanced High Presence, is located in Elbląg.

Adrian Andrzejewski