A permanent German brigade of about 4,800 soldiers in Lithuania, on the border with Russia, will be operational in 2027, the defence ministers of both NATO member states said on Monday.
The German and Lithuanian defence ministers signed the agreement for the first permanent overseas deployment of German troops since World War II. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius compared what he called a “historic” agreement to the deployment of Allied troops in West Germany during the Cold War, which were deployed to defend Western Europe in the event of a Soviet attack. Pistorius told a joint press joint conference with his counterpart in Lithuania:
The eastern flank has now moved to the east, and it’s the duty of Germany to protect it.
Most will arrive between 2025 and 2026. All military personnel and their families will receive “attractive conditions,” including German-language schools, kindergartens, housing and air links, Pistorius said. He added:
The speed of the project clearly shows that Germany understood the new security reality.
Over the next few years, Lithuania will spend about 0.3 per cent of its gross domestic product on building housing, training grounds and other infrastructure for German troops. According to Laurynas Kasciunas, head of the parliamentary committee on national security and defence, taxes will have to be raised to make this happen. He told reporters
All political parties, left to right, agree that this is a priority. We will find the resources needed.
The country of 2.7 million people has a land army of about 8,000 professional soldiers and conscripts. Lithuanian Defence Minister Arvydas Anusauskas said:
We should expect not only good scenarios, but also the very worst scenarios. So we must be ready …
Berlin promised to deploy the brigade-sized unit on a permanent basis in June, on the eve of the NATO summit in Vilnius, but has only now decided on a timeline.
