ANKARA

France will send a military detachment to Lithuania for a new mission in December, French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna said Thursday. 

In an interview with the Lithuanian press during her visit to the country, Colonna hailed the cooperation between Paris and Vilnius.

She said she would visit Siauliai Air Base, where French soldiers deployed as part of NATO's air policing mission in the Baltic countries will end their rotational work.

Colonna added that a military detachment will be sent to Lithuania in December for a new mission.

"Those patrols contributed to strengthening the protection of the eastern flank of NATO, along with our Polish friends," she said, stressing its importance against the Russian threat.

The interview was published on the French Foreign Ministry's website.