Germany will send an additional 4,000 soldiers to Lithuania, with the aim of further strengthening NATO’s eastern wing, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said today from Vilnius.

“Germany is ready to permanently station a strong brigade in Lithuania,” said Mr Pistorius, who is visiting Lithuania in preparation for a NATO summit in Vilnius on July 11 and 12. A condition for the installation of German forces, the minister clarified, is the creation of the necessary infrastructure for the accommodation and exercises of the soldiers. As early as June 2022, the German government had stated that a brigade was ready to defend Lithuania in case of need, but it had not yet been clarified whether Bundeswehr soldiers would be permanently stationed in the country.

From 2017 to the present, hundreds of soldiers of the German armed forces have passed through NATO bases in Lithuania. Germany currently leads the Alliance’s battle group, which consists of 1,600 soldiers. Half of them come from Germany.

In this context, Mr. Pistorius together with the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, will later today attend a joint exercise of the Bundeswehr with the Lithuanian army.