The Bundeswehr brigade planned for permanent stationing in Lithuania is to be put into service with a formal roll call in 2025. According to information from the German Press Agency, an incident command will be relocated to the NATO partner’s territory in the second quarter of next year. This should then continue to grow so that the formation staff is in the country by the end of the year at the latest, led by the first commander of the brigade.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius wanted to arrive in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius on Sunday evening to sign a roadmap for the deployment with his counterpart Arvydas Anusauskas on Monday. Germany is thus taking into account Lithuania’s security needs following Russia’s attack on Ukraine. In the paper, Lithuania and Germany will undertake to create the necessary framework conditions for the successful establishment of an operational and war-worthy brigade.
According to military information, the Lithuania Brigade involves the permanent relocation of a total of around 5,000 men and women, including 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian employees. According to earlier information, two combat troop battalions from Bavaria and North Rhine-Westphalia are to be relocated to NATO’s eastern flank as the core of the new Lithuania brigade. The third battalion will be the multinational NATO battle group (eFP battle group) in Lithuania, which is already in the Baltic state under Germany’s leadership and has rotating personnel. Pistorius had described the project as a “lighthouse project of the turning point”.
