NATO via Flickr
Germany, Lithuania, and Security on NATO’s Eastern Flank
with
Ms. Siemtje Möller, Member of the Bundestag, Parliamentary Secretary for Defense
Dr. Stephen Flanagan, Adjunct Senior Fellow, RAND Corporation
Brigadier General Modestas Petrauskas, Defense, Military, Naval and Air Attaché, United States of America and Canada Embassy of the Republic of Lithuania
Moderator: Mr. Jeff Rathke, President, AGI
The Russian invasion of Ukraine threatens the political, security, and economic order in Europe and has sparked major changes in Germany’s foreign and security policy. Germany’s support for Ukraine and deployment in the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) in Lithuania has been increasing in reaction to the renewed threats on the alliance’s borders. This webinar will shed light on the growing German commitments, the increasing Lithuanian capabilities, and the contributions they have made to the defense of NATO territory and its allies in this vulnerable location so necessary to assure European security.
Siemtje Möller is a member of the German Bundestag (SPD) and Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry of Defense. In the previous legislative period (2017-2021), she was a member of the Defense Committee, as well as an alternate member of the Committee on Foreign Affairs. In January 2021 she was elected to be the Social Democratic Party (SPD) speaker on defense issues, becoming the first woman in this position. In her current role as Parliamentary State Secretary, she reports to the Defense Committee in the Bundestag. She has been a member of the SPD since 2010 and a member of the executive board of the party in the state of Lower Saxony since 2014. She is also a member of the Union for Education and Science (GEW) and the Workers’ Welfare Association (AWO).
Dr. Stephen J. Flanagan is an adjunct senior fellow at the RAND Corporation. He served in several senior positions in government, most recently as special assistant to the president and senior director for defense policy and strategy at the National Security Council (NSC) from 2013 to 2015. Between 1989 and 1999 he served as special assistant to the president and senior director for Central and Eastern Europe at the NSC; associate director and member of the State Department’s Policy Planning Staff; and national intelligence officer for Europe. He also worked as a professional staff member of the U.S. Senate Select Committee on Intelligence. He held the Kissinger Chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies from 2007 until 2013, and served as senior vice president and director of the International Security Program. He was director of the Institute for National Strategic Studies and vice president for research at National Defense University from 2000 to 2007. He also held research and faculty positions at the International Institute for Strategic Studies, the Council on Foreign Relations, Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, and the National War College, and is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University.
Brigadier General Modestas Petrauskas is the Lithuanian Defense Attaché to USA and Canada in Washington, DC. In 1991, he participated in civilian protests against Soviet Forces in Lithuania including clashes at the TV tower and the defense of the Parliament during the Lithuanian struggle for Independence. Following this, he joined Lithuanian military service as a volunteer of the National Volunteer Defense Forces in 1992. He graduated from the Lithuanian Military Academy in the second release of officers of the Independent Lithuania in 1995. As a cadet of the military academy, he graduated from the Junior Non-Commissioned Officers Course in PPCLI Battle School, Canada. BG M. Petrauskas operational assignments include deployments to Bosnia and Herzegovina as a Mechanized Infantry Platoon Commander and later as S2 officer of the Danish Battalion, NORDPOL BDE. Following this, he was deployed in OSCE Border Monitoring mission of the Georgian – Chechen border as a Team Base Commander. BG M. Petrauskas commanded Jaeger battalion of the Lithuanian Special Operations Force (SOF) and later – Task Force 77 in Afghanistan. During his staff assignments, BG M. Petrauskas served in Multinational Operations Division of Defense Staff of Lithuania and following this – ADC to the Commander of the Lithuanian Land Forces. Later he was dispatched to USCENTCOM as Lithuanian SOF Liaison Officer for Operation Enduring Freedom. He served as Defense advisor for the President of Lithuania, later as Chief of the Training Center of the Lithuanian SOF. Following this, BG M. Petrauskas served as chief of Staff of the Lithuanian SOF. For the NRF15 he was assigned as Deputy Commander of the Polish-led Special Operations Component Command. From 2015, BG M. Petrauskas commanded Lithuanian SOF. Brigadier General Modestas Petrauskas served as Lithuanian Military Representative to NATO and the EU from 2018 to 2020.
This webinar will convene via Zoom. Please contact Mr. Jack Fornasiero at jfornasiero@aicgs.org with any questions.
