With eyes on Russia, Germany to permanently station 4,000 troops in Lithuania

Germany will be permanently stationing 4,000 of its troops in NATO ally Lithuania to help secure the country’s eastern flank, Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said, while referring to the Russia-Ukraine war.

"Germany is ready to permanently station a robust brigade in Lithuania," Pistorius said during a visit to the Lithuanian capita, Vilnius, on Monday.

He said that facilities would firstneed to be built to accommodate the troops, state-run Deutsche Welle (DW) reported.

Berlin already leads NATO's battlegroup inLithuania, a reinforced battalion of some 1,000 troops.

"We agree that the brigade will grow step-by-step as the infrastructure is established," Pistorius said, adding that such a deployment could not be completed within "a few months".

Long-pending demand

For long, Lithuania had sought the permanent presence of German troops in the country, which borders the Russian region of Kaliningrad.

But Germany resisted permanently stationing its brigade in Lithuania, arguing that the troops could be rapidly deployed from bases in Germany.

"We agree that the brigade will grow step-by-step as the infrastructure is established," Pistorius said, adding that such a deployment could not be completed within "a few months".

Pistorius stressed that the deployment should be compatible with NATO's (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) regional plans detailing how it would respond to a Russian attack.

Better Infrastructure

In response, Lithuania's President Gitanas Nauseda said he was the required infrastructure is expected to be in place by 2026.

"We are simplifying the procedures...in order to be able to finalize the building of infrastructure by 2026," he said. "But I will not be angry if the minister of defence will finalise in 2025."

In June 2022, Berlin pledged to have a full brigade ready to defend Vilnius in case of an attack.

Currently, only the brigade's command post with about 20 German soldiers are in Rukla, Lithuania. The rest remain at various locations within Germany.

NATO chief welcomes move

NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg though welcomed Germany's announcement, he rejected calls for an immediate bolstering of troops along the alliance's eastern flank in response to the mutiny in Russia.

"It's not all about presence, it's all about the ability to have early warnings and indications, and then react quickly if there is a need - and this exercise demonstrates exactly that," he said.

NATO leaders will meet for a summit in Vilnius on July 11-12.

(With inputs from agencies)

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