Lithuanian President Gitans Nausėda and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have agreed on the gradual deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania, Nausėda announced, expressing determination to ensure the presence of the German brigade in the country “as early as 2026”.
Lithuanian President Gitans Nausėda and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have agreed on the gradual deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania, Nausėda announced, expressing determination to ensure the presence of the German brigade in the country “as early as 2026”.
“We agreed that the process should be gradual and that Germany is committed to increasing its military presence in Lithuania depending on our infrastructure implementation measures,” the Lithuanian president told the BNS news agency in Berlin after meeting Scholz.
Last June, Nausėda and Scholz signed a communique stating that “in addition to the current and expanded battle group, Germany is ready to lead a large and combat-ready brigade in Lithuania to contain and defend against Russian aggression.”
At the same time, Vilnius and Berlin have different views on the extent of the military presence. Lithuania wants to ensure that the German brigade is continuously present in the country, however, German officials have repeatedly assured that part of the brigade will be in Lithuania and part in Germany, being ready to arrive in Lithuania as soon as possible.
“I like the formula that I proposed and which the chancellor agreed to: Lithuania does its homework, takes action and in return receives an appropriate reaction from Germany, in other words, an even greater military presence on the territory of Lithuania,” Nausėda explained.
“Infrastructure is not built for idleness,” he added.
The President of Lithuania expects that the necessary infrastructure for the reception of the German brigade will be completed by 2026.
“On our part, we will do everything to create the necessary conditions for the deployment of the German brigade as early as 2026,” declared Nauseda.
As Nausėda expressed, she and Scholz agreed that Germany’s determination to deploy the brigade and Lithuania’s creation of the necessary infrastructure “must be parallel processes”.
“Without a doubt, these processes must be parallel, so I don’t see any major contradictions in this respect and I hope that we will be able to move forward step by step,” he said.
During the conversation in Berlin on Thursday, the Lithuanian president informed the German chancellor about Lithuanian projects, such as the construction of the Rūdninku military training ground and “other places we have decided”.
Lithuania estimates that the construction of the 17,000-hectare landfill and the necessary road network will require 260 million euros.
In preparation for the reception of the German brigade, Lithuania also plans to expand the barracks in Rukla, where the German-led multinational battalion is currently based.
Since September, soldiers of the German brigade have been arriving in Lithuania, responsible for preparing for the deployment of other units and assessing other conditions. Lithuanian officials estimate that the infrastructure necessary for the full deployment of the German brigade, which will consist of several thousand soldiers, will be completed by 2025. For the time being, it is expected that in the event of a crisis, the full brigade will be ready to arrive in Lithuania within ten days.
Germany has been leading the multinational battle group of NATO’s enhanced presence deployed in Lithuania since 2017, and has also decided to deploy its own brigade in Lithuania.
