Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis says he sees that Germany “probably even regrets” its agreement with Vilnius last year regarding a brigade in Lithuania.
His comment came in response to the position expressed by German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, who visited Lithuania in March, that the deployment of a brigade in Lithuania depended on NATO’s position.
Further reading
Landsbergis says the communiqué of the leaders of both countries, signed last year, remains in force. Lithuanian officials claim Germany committed to deploy a brigade in Lithuania with this communiqué.
Meanwhile, Berlin maintains that it will deploy the brigade’s forward element and hold regular training, while the troops will remain stationed in Germany and be ready for quick deployment if need be. Even some Lithuanian officials say the country does not currently have the infrastructure to host a German brigade.
Further reading
Foreign Minister Landsbergis, however, says he sees some subterfuge in the German position.
“Our agreement with Germany remains unchanged, it’s valid, and when we hear such statements, they probably give the impression that one of the sides now wants a new agreement, or a different agreement, or maybe even regrets that they agreed on something earlier,” Landsbergis told LRT TV programme Topic of the Day (Dienos Tema) on Thursday night.
“The return to the NATO debate would essentially start a very big conversation and will require 31 countries to agree that defence elements of this kind are needed. We might be having a bit of a subterfuge here too, given that it is very difficult to reach such agreements,” he added.
Landsbergis pointed out that NATO leaders agreed in Madrid last year that “NATO does not object to countries agreeing bilaterally to increase their forces from a battalion to a brigade, which is what we did with Germany”.
The Madrid Summit Declaration states that international battalions on NATO’s eastern flank will be strengthened to the brigade level, if required.
Last year, Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz signed a joint communiqué stating that “in addition to the current and reinforced enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group already in place, Germany is ready to lead a robust and combat-ready brigade in Lithuania dedicated to deter and defend against Russian aggression”.
Landsbergis says the level of threat to Lithuania and the other Baltic states has increased, and Russia’s plans to deploy nuclear weapons in Belarus are contributing to that.
Vilnius will host a NATO summit in July.
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