VILNIUS (dpa-AFX) – Further information on the plans for the stationing of a brigade of the armed forces in Lithuania, according to Defense Minister Arvydas Anusauskas, will be announced soon. “Next week I will meet with German representatives and next week the details will begin to be published,” he said on Tuesday in Vilnius, according to the BNS agency. “However, it will take a few more months until we and the German side have worked out an absolutely detailed plan in every detail.” This concerns Lithuania rather than the German side, which has done its homework.
Germany wants to permanently station around 4,000 soldiers in Lithuania as a combat-ready and independently acting unit. The Baltic state borders the Russian Baltic Sea exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia’s close ally Belarus. The deployment of the brigade is intended to take into account the NATO partner’s need for increased deterrence. The plans are also a response to Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
According to the Bundeswehr, the concept for the relocation should be developed by the end of the year. This was confirmed by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) during a visit to the Baltics last week. Lithuania wants to create the necessary infrastructure by 2026./awe/DP/men