On Monday, Germany sent the first group of approximately 20 soldiers to Lithuania to permanently strengthen NATO’s eastern wing. “This is the first time that we have permanently stationed such a unit outside of German territory,” Pistorius said Monday in Berlin at a farewell ceremony that preceded the deployment of the troops.
The first group consists of approximately 20 soldiers, who are supposed to create possibilities for the later deployment of a larger number, the so-called brigade. By the end of the current year, 150 of them should be operating in this Baltic country, with thousands in the coming years.
🇱🇹🇩🇪 A historic day for Lithuania’s security – the deployment of a German brigade in our country has begun! Today, the first troops of the German ‘Lithuania’ brigade arrived in Vilnius. This initial element will ensure that the brigade reaches full operational capability by 2027. pic.twitter.com/SB38MzbVUX
— Lithuanian MOD 🇱🇹 (@Lithuanian_MoD) April 8, 2024
“I know that we still have a lot of work to do, even on the spot. The infrastructure must be in order, there must be barracks, accommodation,” said Pistorius. “There is still a lot to be done on the Lithuanian side… We will do everything in our power to equip the brigade as it needs to be equipped from the beginning,” he told the soldiers.
The brigade is to be called Panzerbrigade 45. It should be fully operational by 2027, consisting of permanently deployed approximately 4,800 soldiers and approximately 200 civilian members of the German Armed Forces and their families.
The Kremlin warns against the German military presence in Lithuania. As reported by news.sky.com, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said this.
explanation by Martin Mojžiš
Twenty German soldiers in Lithuania mean very little – warning Peskov, the Kremlin or Putin about this little means nothing at all. It is just an obligatory ritual dance in response to a small symbolic step. In fact, the world does not need a few soldiers in Lithuania from Germany, but a lot of long-range missiles in Ukraine. The defense of Lithuania, the defense of Latvia and Estonia, the defense of Poland and Finland, the defense of the entire NATO begins in Ukraine. And there, at the moment, Peskov does not have too many reasons for extreme dissatisfaction with the German approach.
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