With Russia pressing on with its military aggression in Ukraine, it is necessary to increase the number of NATO troops deployed in the Baltic countries, the Lithuanian president and the German chancellor stated after a meeting in Vilnius on Tuesday.
“Maximum readiness and strengthened forces in our region are the security guarantee of the whole alliance. We have agreed that it is necessary to enhance defence capabilities in the Baltic countries by increasing the number of deployed troops and by strengthening air and sea defence,” President Gitanas Nausėda said during a joint press conference.
Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz confirmed that NATO members were committed to defending and protecting every country in the alliance.
“We have envisaged that we will scale up our contribution to the strengthening of NATO’s eastern flank, we will create a strong brigade, we have discussed that with each other and will have to work on this,” Scholz said.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda confirmed it during his visit to Pabradė.
“Germany is going to take the lead and [...] bolster its military presence here. They intend to upgrade it to the brigade level,” the Lithuanian president said, adding that Berlin and Vilnius will take these steps gradually.
“As a host country, we will take care of all the necessary infrastructure. In particular, I pointed out to the chancellor that it would make sense for us to have an additional battalion here for permanent exercises, for permanent training,” Nausėda said, without specifying when the brigade will be in Lithuania.
He stressed, however, that it would “not take years” and that the military unit would include not only German troops, as it does now.
“Over the next year or 18 months, we can expect to have the necessary combat unit here. We have to do some work: the construction of barracks, deployment sites, infrastructure. I think this is a realistic timeframe,” the president said.
Focus on the Baltic region
Earlier in the day, Nausėda met with the German chancellor and the Latvian and Estonian prime ministers at the Presidential Palace. The Lithuanian president stressed the need to strengthen defence capabilities by increasing the number of NATO troops in all three Baltic states.
Official decisions expected in Madrid
Scholz welcomed Germany’s decision to up defence funding and hoped it would be maintained in the future.
Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas also said Baltic defense should be upgraded.
“Allied presence must be increased in the air, on land and at sea, and decisions have to be taken in Madrid,” she said. “We need to make it clear to the aggressor that NATO has the will and the clear ability to defend every centimetre of its territory.”
Both the Estonian prime minister and her Latvian counterpart Arturs Krišjānis Kariņš believe the German leadership will help make determined decisions at the NATO Madrid summit.
“We welcome Germany’s decision to boost its presence in Lithuania as it’s a very welcome and right decision. It will strengthen Lithuania, it will strengthen Latvia, and it will strengthen Estonia,” the Latvian prime minister said.
As NATO is preparing for its summit in Madrid at the end of June, Vilnius expects the leaders of NATO countries to agree that the multinational allied battalions stationed in the Baltic countries and Poland be converted into brigades.
Germany is now leading the forward presence battalion in Lithuania, and the other two in Latvia and Estonia are being led by Canada and the UK respectively.
The battalions are expected to be expanded to brigades on the basis of the armies of these countries.
A battalion consists of about 1,000 soldiers, and a brigade has about 5,000 troops.
Europe hasn’t done enough
Europe has done a lot to help Ukraine, but it needs to increase its assistance, Lithuanian President Nausėda said after his meeting with Scholz.
“We talked about Russia’s war in Ukraine and Europe’s response. Europe has done a lot to help Ukraine, but that is not enough. The war has not yet been won. We must stay on this path and in no way reduce the speed. On the contrary, the speed should only be increased,” Nausėda posted on Facebook after the meeting.
“We must fully support Ukraine, step up pressure on Russia, tighten sanctions, reduce energy dependence on the aggressor. We must do everything to defend our values and peace. We are and want to remain on the right side of history,” the Lithuanian leader wrote.
Nausėda also said that Ukraine should be given EU candidate status.
“It is time to state clearly that Ukraine belongs with the European Union. We have no moral right to lose this moment,” he was quoted in a press release from the presidential office.
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