German Chancellor O. Scholz, who has arrived in Lithuania, is met on a sunny Monday morning in the sands of the Pabradė training ground. He also greeted the soldiers of his country, of whom there are more and more in Lithuania.
“Germany strongly supports the Baltic countries, recognizes its responsibility for security in the Euro-Atlantic alliance. The fact that we are deploying a brigade in Lithuania is a convincing contribution. For seven years, we have been leading NATO’s forward forces in Lithuania. And now we are deploying a brigade,” said the German chancellor in Pabrade.
O. Scholz reported about the brigade to Lithuania two years ago, during that time the deployment date of the brigade has been pushed further. Initially, it was said that the brigade could be moved in 2025, and in recent weeks it has already been said that 5 thousand soldiers and equipment will be moved in 2027.
President G. Nausėda says that this process needs to be accelerated.
“I am happy with the progress of the deployment of the brigade. But our strategic security environment demands an even faster pace. We don’t have the luxury of wasting a single minute,” G. Nausėda said on Monday.
What the Germans themselves emphasize about the brigade for Lithuania can be understood from the German journalists who came to Pabradė together with O. Scholz. The very first question is how Lithuania is willing to share the cost of moving the brigade. And this is a lot of money even for the most powerful European economy – Germany.
Lithuania plans to spend a billion euros: building barracks, building roads. The Germans estimate that arming the brigade alone will cost them at least 10 billion. And another billion every year for the maintenance of the brigade.
“The bilateral relations that bind us and close cooperation in the field of security and defense are of existential importance for Lithuania”, assured the President of Lithuania G. Nausėda.
It is true that, when compared according to the size of the countries, Lithuania’s expenses for both the reception of the brigade and defense in general are much higher. Germany has come close to spending 2 percent of GDP on defense this year alone.
“Germany invests massively in the military because security is not free. We set ourselves the task of equipping the soldiers as best as possible. A special fund of 100 billion euros was established, and we committed to allocate 2 percent of GDP to defense. This will be achieved this year. And now I would like to see with my friend and friend the capacity of our soldiers,” said the German chancellor.
G. Nausėda and O. Scholz got into the infantry fighting vehicle brought by the Germans and drove to the depths of the training ground.
The German chancellor came to Lithuania not just to greet the soldiers of his country, but also to observe the exercises, which are also symbolically very important for Germany. In recent weeks, more than 3 thousand German soldiers have arrived and are training in Lithuania. A lot of military equipment from Germany is also deployed.
The Germans say that deployments of this scale have not happened in their country since the Cold War.
In recent months, the largest military exercises since the Cold War have been taking place across NATO. However, separate German exercises are also held in Pabrade.
“This unit, the division is training how to defend the territory of the Republic of Lithuania together with the Lithuanian army,” Valdemaras Rupšys, commander of the Lithuanian army, told LNK news about the exercises.
On Monday, O. Scholz and G. Nausėda in Pabrade watched how the Germans and Lithuanians, other allies, trained to stop the Russians from the ground and air. The maneuvers are crowned in the distance by the “Vilkas” infantry fighting vehicle that stopped and fired salvos at O. Scholz and G. Nausėda.
The commander of the Lithuanian army says that the exercises at the training ground are important, but this time the most important part was less visible. The Germans trained to transfer thousands of soldiers and hundreds of pieces of equipment to Lithuania as soon as possible. He flew in airplanes, sailed on ships, transported by railways. Part of the soldiers and equipment came from Germany themselves.
“Preparation of units, redeployment from Germany to Lithuania is the main emphasis and focus of the aspirations of these exercises,” said V. Rupšys.
O. Scholz also reminds that Germany has already provided support to Ukraine for almost 30 billion euros, the most after the Americans.
“Ukraine is suffering from many deaths, many cities have been destroyed, infrastructure has been destroyed. It is clear to us that we will support Ukraine as much as necessary,” said the German Chancellor.
In his opinion, NATO troops cannot be sent to Ukraine.
“NATO does not intend to participate directly in the war. These questions have been discussed more than once. We can rely on the good decisions that were made in Vilnius and provide support to Ukraine,” he said.
O. Scholz left Pabrade for Latvia, met with the prime ministers of all the Baltic countries in Riga.
See the full LNK news report here:
Tags: German journalists Lithuania Scholz named important highlight brigade
