The NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup, based in Lithuania's Rukla, would be ready to defend the country from an attack within hours, its commander Lieutenant Colonel Hagen Ruppelt says.
“Training events always start with an alert. So, as soon as the alert goes off – day or night – it's only a question of a couple of hours when our forces are ready to move out,” the commander of the 10th eFP BG rotation said. “It is a matter of hours, not days.”
Russia now has more than 100,000 troops and military equipment near its border with Ukraine, with the West increasingly concerned that a major military conflict might break out in Europe. Moreover, Russia has recently been moving its troops to Belarus near the EU border for planned joint army drills.
As tension continue to rise over Russia's military buildup, NATO allies announced on Monday they are putting forces on standby and sending additional ships and fighter jets to Eastern Europe.
Sufficient forces
The NATO eFP BG forces now have around 1,200 troops, with German soldiers leading the Rukla-based battlegroup.
Ruppelt says the existing number of troops is sufficient to ensure deterrence.
“If you wanna be an integrated part of this Iron Wolf brigade, it does not make sense to put even more forces here under this umbrella,” the commander said, adding that these forces will be increased slightly over the upcoming years.
“I think it's roughly 1,400 or 1,500 soldiers in the upcoming two years,” he said.
Lithuania and Germany have agreed to invest 200 million euros into new military infrastructure in Rukla over the coming several years, building barracks, command spaces, a canteen and training places.
The new infrastructure will be meant for the Lithuanian army's Iron Wolf mechanised infantry brigade, the artillery and logistics battalions and the NATO eFP BG.
The construction in stages is scheduled to be completed in 2023-2026.
Provocation-deterrence balance
Asked whether Lithuania would be ready to host the NATO Very High Readiness Joint Task Force, (VJTF), Ruppelt voiced his conviction that its arrival would be “very smooth”, adding that the VJTF deployment would be a political decision.
“If situation demands the deployment, there will be a political decision to do so,” he said, adding that “more forces give more reassurance”.
“But in the end, we don't want to provoke here, but we wanna show the abilities, that we are able to do so [defend],” Ruppelt said.
The NATO eFP BG is stationed in Lithuania since February 2017, with three more groups stationed in Latvia, Estonia and Poland. The decision was made by NATO leaders in response to Russia's aggressive action in Ukraine and the changed security situation in the region.
Based on data from the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, more than 8,000 troops from Germany, Norway, the Netherlands, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Iceland, Luxembourg, Croatia and France have trained with Lithuanian troops on a rotational basis since the NATO battalion was deployed.
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