On Friday, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock said the country’s brigade assigned to Lithuania would be stationed “partly in Lithuania and partly in Germany”.
“Your president and my chancellor agreed on this together and put this in writing together,” she told reporters after a meeting with her Lithuanian counterpart Gabrielius Landsbergis in Berlin on Friday.
“We need a combat-ready brigade, which is permanently [based] partly in Lithuania and partly in Germany and which can be deployed in days whenever it is needed,” she said.
Vilnius seeks to have a full German brigade permanently stationed in Lithuania.
Berlin pledged earlier this year to assign a brigade to Lithuania to counter Russia’s threat. However, the exact nature of its deployment is still at the centre of political discussions in Lithuania.
While some officials and MPs say the brigade should be permanently based in Lithuania, Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas, as well as the military leadership, say the country still needs to build the infrastructure needed to house thousands of German soldiers.
Read more: LRT FACTS. Permanent or remote – what kind of brigade did Germany promise to Lithuania?
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