Nausėda says Scholz agreed on gradual deployment of German brigade in Lithuania

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda says he and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz have agreed on the gradual deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania.

“We have agreed that the process should be gradual and that Germany is committed to increasing its military presence in Lithuania, depending on the steps we take in terms of infrastructure preparation,” Nausėda told BNS on Thursday after a meeting with Scholz.

Nausėda and Scholz agreed last year on the assignment of the German to Lithuania. However, so far, Lithuania and Germany have had diverging views on where the brigade should be deployed.

Vilnius wants a permanent presence of the brigade in the country, but Berlin has only deployed its forward command element and said that the full brigade could be moved to Lithuania if necessary.

“I like the formula that I proposed, and the chancellor accepted: Lithuania does its homework and is rewarded with a corresponding German reaction – an ever greater military presence on Lithuanian territory,” Nausėda said.

“Infrastructure is not built to stand empty,” he added.

German brigade troops arrive in Lithuania | I. Budzeikaitė/Armed Forces

According to the president, the infrastructure needed to host the German brigade should be in place by 2026.

“For our part, we will do our utmost to create the conditions for the deployment of the German brigade as early as 2026,” Nausėda was quoted as saying in a press release by the President’s Office.

“There is no doubt that these processes have to be parallel, so in this sense, I do not see any major contradictions and I hope that we will be able to move forward step by step,” he added.

The president said he also briefed the German chancellor on Lithuania’s military infrastructure projects and their progress, such as the construction of the Rūdininkai training area, which is expected to be completed by 2026. Lithuania estimates that the construction of the 17,000-hectare training area will cost around 260 million euros.

The barracks in Rukla, where the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence battalion is currently based, will also be expanded in preparation for the deployment of the German brigade, Nausėda said.