Germany’s ambitious plan to station five thousand military personnel in Lithuania is in doubt, Financial Times reports.
Last December, Lithuanian and German defence ministers Arvydas Anušauskas and Boris Pistorius signed an action plan in Vilnius to deploy a German brigade to Lithuania by 2027. According to Anušauskas, the transfer of the main formations will take place in 2025-2026, and “in 2027, the German brigade in Lithuania should reach full operational readiness.”
It is noted that at the moment it is not clear how the military group will be formed. The newspaper wrote:
The issue is over one of Germany’s most ambitious plans – the deployment of a 5,000-man brigade to Lithuania, which would be the first permanent overseas deployment for the country since World War II.
Potential recruits also have no idea about the life of their families in Lithuania. The newspaper said:
“Potential recruits have no idea yet about where their families will live, where their children will go to school and where their partners may work.
Earlier, Anušauskas admitted that the Baltic republic plans to rent rather than buy housing for the German brigade’s soldiers and their families.
He noted that “thousands” of civilians will come to Lithuania from Germany, so “the need for this infrastructure will be enormous.” Thus, buying housing and other civilian infrastructure for the needs of the German brigade will cost about a third of a billion euros, while renting will help save a lot of money.
