The head of the German Defence Ministry, Boris Pistorius, considers the decision to send the German contingent to Lithuania to be a "historic moment."
Germany sent its troops to Lithuania
According to the German minister, this brigade is the "flagship" of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz's geopolitical turning point, which he announced two years ago after the Russian Federation's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
It is important to understand that this strategy involves placing thousands of military personnel from Western countries in states that border the Russian Federation.
Boris Pistorius draws attention to the fact that this is an important day for the Bundeswehr because this base will be the first in Germany's modern history.
Although Germany has previously participated in multinational missions and military operations abroad with NATO and other partners, it has never stationed troops on a permanent basis outside its territory since the end of the Cold War.
How the German contingent in Lithuania will function
Much remains to be done, particularly at the local level. The infrastructure must be good, with barracks... housing, and apartments. We will do our best to equip the brigade from the beginning how it should be.
Boris Pistorius
German MOD chief
He called it a "quick start", because for now only 20 German soldiers will live in hotels, and later they will rent housing.
Over the next four months, 150 servicemen will start a new life in the Baltic States.
This part of the German military is the first of 4,800 soldiers to be permanently stationed in the Baltic states until 2027 as a key part of NATO's new advanced defense plans against the Kremlin. The German military will be transformed into the 45th Panzer Brigade, which will eventually consist of one Leopard 2 tank battalion, one Puma motorised infantry battalion, one multinational combat battalion and support troops.
