Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO\u2019s eastern flank and declared Thursday that \u201cthe security of our Baltic allies is also our security\u201d as worries about Russian aggression persist. <\/p>\n
He said Berlin\u2019s strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security. <\/p>\n
The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that a German brigade is being based outside Germany on a long-term basis since World War II. \u201cThis is a historic day,\u201d Lithuanian President Gitanas Naus\u0117da said after meeting Merz. \u201cThis is a day of trust, responsibility and action.\u201d <\/p>\n
Germany has had troops in Lithuania \u2014 which borders Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus \u2014 since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO\u2019s eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. <\/p>\n
An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an \u201cactivation staff\u201d of about 250 people last fall. The 45 Armored Brigade is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. <\/p>\n
Dozens of military helicopters roared over the central cathedral square in Lithuania\u2019s capital, Vilnius, as the inauguration wrapped up on a rainy Thursday afternoon, with hundreds of troops and spectators attending. Merz told the event that \u201cprotecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin.\u201d <\/p>\n
The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. <\/p>\n
Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, \u201cGermany is investing massively in its own armed forces.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWith this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security,\u201d he added. \u201cTogether with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every \u2014 every \u2014 aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.\u201d <\/p>\n
Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany\u2019s defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. <\/p>\n
Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. <\/p>\n
Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that \u201cthe government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.\u201d <\/p>\n
Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by US President Donald Trump. <\/p>\n
A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure \u2014 roads, bridges, airports and seaports. <\/p>\n
Merz said in Lithuania that those figures \u201cseem sensible to us, they also seem reachable \u2014 at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated.\u201d <\/p>\n
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. <\/p>\n
Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole \u2014 and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the US,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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