President of Lithuania Gitanas Nauceda commented on the placement of the brigade of the German army in Lithuania: “This is a historical day. This is a day of trust, responsibility and actions.”
According to the Lithuanian National Radio and Television (LRT), the president held a joint press conference with the German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, who visited the capital of Lithuania Vilnius.
Having called the placement of the brigade of the German army “an exceptional event in the history of Lithuania,” Nagused said that this situation reflects the general values of Lithuania and Germany.
“their arrival reflects our time -tested friendship and, ultimately, the remarkable progress of our strategic partnership in recent years,” he added.
Nauceda noted that the joint Russian-Belarusian military exercises “West” in recent years are a source of tension, since they imitate attacks “on the Baltic countries.
noting that Lithuania carefully monitors the military exercises of Russia, the president added that he does not expect any surprises: “However, sometimes unforeseen events occur during military exercises, and often after these unforeseen events, conflicts begin.”
Message “Enemies of the Future”
Lithuanian Minister of Defense Doville Sakalien in his speech said that his country “suffered from occupation in the past and felt devoted,” but the situation has changed.
“Lithuania is proud to be next to such a partner, the enemies of the past could not break us, enemies of the future will not be able to scare us,” Sakalien told about the placement of a German brigade in the country.
German brigade in the Baltic
According to the Associated Press (AP) agency, the decision to place the German brigade in Lithuania was made after prolonged pressure from the Vilnius administration in connection with the Russian-Ukrainian conflict.
According to the German Ministry of Defense, there are currently about 400 German military personnel in Lithuania, and by the end of the year their number is planned to increase to 500.
It is expected that in February 2026, the German brigade will be annexed to the 45th brigade, NATO multinational forces in Lithuania, as a result of which the number of German troops will reach 1800 people. By the summer of 2026, Germany intends to bring the number of soldiers in this brigade to 2 thousand people.
5 thousand soldiers, which is considered the number of the brigade according to the standards of NATO, can be placed in Lithuania until the end of 2027, but this depends on the country’s infrastructure and the conditions of accommodation.
German troops posted in Lithuania are considered the first long -term deployment of German troops abroad after the Second World War.
Lithuania, the country of the Baltic region, is located between the Russian territory of Kaliningrad and Belarus, which is an ally of the Kremlin administration.