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Germany prepares to send thousands of troops to Lithuania. Photo/Illustration
BERLIN – German and Lithuania is working to create a road map for the deployment of German army brigades to the Baltic country. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this in an interview with news outlet ERR on Monday.
The German minister announced several weeks ago that Berlin planned to send as many as 4,000 troops to Lithuania, which already hosts around 1,500 German troops as part of a NATO battle group.
In a recent interview, he explained that the move was taken to show solidarity and responsibility in the East Wing.
Pistorius said there was still much to be done before troops could be deployed, but stated that Germany and Lithuania hoped to have a clear roadmap and picture of how to proceed by the end of November or early December.
“For example, infrastructure. We need barracks, warehouses, training sites, in addition to civilian infrastructure for military families. This is a serious challenge for Lithuania, and also for us. This has never happened before in the German Bundeswehr. “We have never done anything like that, deploying an entire brigade abroad,” said the German Defense Minister as quoted by RT, Wednesday (4/10/2023).
He added that Germany estimates the brigade will be created by the end of 2024.
Pistorius stressed that German soldiers going to Lithuania as part of this unit must do so voluntarily, and Berlin must find a way to persuade soldiers and their families to stay in other countries.
“Germany plans to look to the experience of the US and UK in creating the necessary conditions,” Pistorius said.
