Germany ready to put 4,000 soldiers permanently in Lithuania
Germany is making preparations for the permanent deployment of 4,000 soldiers to Lithuania, as announced by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during his visit to Vilnius on Monday.
While the establishment of infrastructure and training facilities is still required, Pistorius affirmed that Germany intends to station a “robust brigade” in the Baltic nation.
The defense minister’s visit coincided with NATO training drills, which he observed alongside Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg.
Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany committed a year ago to maintaining a combat brigade for the defense of Lithuania. However, the decision to establish a permanent presence in Lithuania has been a subject of controversy. Vilnius strongly advocated for it, but the German government did not immediately commit.
The decision has received approval not only from the German governing coalition but also from opposition parties. Roderich Kiesewetter, a foreign policy expert and member of the center-right CDU, described it as a “thoughtful and reliable decision.”
The announcement comes shortly after a brief mutiny in Russia led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner.
Nevertheless, a spokesperson for the German defense ministry emphasized in Berlin on Monday that the ongoing planning is primarily related to the preparations for the Vilnius summit and is not directly linked to the recent events over the weekend.
