Germany ready to station 4,000 troops in Lithuania

BLOOMBERG

Germany’s defense chief said the country is prepared to station a permanent brigade of some 4,000 troops in Lithuania to help shore up Nato’s eastern flank against potential Russian aggression.
The announcement by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius during a visit to Vilnius represented a more robust pledge after Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s government previously said the German military contingent would operate on a rotational basis.
The conditions for such a presence are an expansion of infrastructure — including barracks and depots — in the Baltic nation of 2.8 million, as well as coordination with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization’s security plans.
“This will be a considerable effort,” Pistorius said alongside his Lithuanian counterpart, Arvydas Anusauskas. “That’s why we’ve agreed to build up a brigade step by step” along with infrastructure — an effort that will take more than “just a few months.”