Germany will establish a permanent presence of around 4,000 troops in Lithuania in a bid to strengthen Nato’s eastern flank against Russia, the country’s defence minister has said.
Speaking on a visit to Vilnius, the Lithuanian capital, Boris Pistorius agreed to a longstanding demand from the Baltic state to expand its current military deployment in the country.
“Germany is ready to permanently station a robust brigade in Lithuania,” Pistorius said, while stressing that it was necessary to build the required infrastructure first. “We are talking about a brigade with 4,000 soldiers, with the corresponding materiel, vehicles and everything that goes with it,” he said, adding that it would take “more than a few months”.