Germany to permanently station additional combat troops in Lithuania | DW News

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday announced plans to permanently station 4,000 soldiers in NATO ally Lithuania to help secure the alliance's eastern flank.

"Germany is ready to permanently station a robust brigade in Lithuania," Pistorius said during a visit to the Lithuanian capital, Vilnius. He said that facilities would first need to be built to accommodate the troops.

Germany already leads NATO's battlegroup in Lithuania, a reinforced battalion of some 1,000 troops. Vilnius has repeatedly called on Berlin to send combat troops in the country, which borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad. Germany pledged in June, 2022, to have a full brigade ready to defend Lithuania in case of an attack.

Until now, however, Berlin had resisted permanently stationing most of the brigade in Lithuania, saying that the troops could be rapidly deployed from bases in Germany. Currently, only the brigade's command post with about 20 German soldiers are in Rukla, Lithuania. The rest remain at various locations within Germany.

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