Germany is making preparations to permanently station 4,000 soldiers in Lithuania, according to Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during his visit to Vilnius on Monday. As part of this deployment, infrastructure, and training facilities will need to be established to accommodate the robust brigade that Germany intends to station in the Baltic country.

Pistorius traveled to Lithuania to observe NATO training exercises alongside Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg. Following Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, Germany pledged a year ago to maintain a combat brigade to support Lithuania’s defense. However, the decision to establish a permanent deployment in Lithuania has been a subject of controversy until now, with Vilnius demanding it while the German government hesitated to commit.

In addition to receiving approval from the German governing coalition, the decision has garnered support from opposition parties. Roderich Kiesewetter, a foreign policy expert and lawmaker from the center-right CDU, described the move as a “decision of reason and reliability.”

It is worth noting that this announcement comes shortly after a brief mutiny led by Yevgeny Prigozhin, the head of the Russian mercenary group Wagner. However, a spokesperson from the German defense ministry emphasized in Berlin on Monday that the deployment planning, which is commencing now, is solely related to preparations for the Vilnius summit and not directly connected to the recent events in Russia.

Germany’s decision to permanently station soldiers in Lithuania underscores its commitment to strengthen defense and support its NATO allies in the region amidst evolving security challenges.

Source: With Agencies