Germany is set to permanently station 4,800 troops in Lithuania as part of NATO’s military buildup in Eastern Europe aimed at Russia.
Lithuania shares a border with Kaliningrad, the Russian oblast on the Baltic Sea that’s separated from the Russian mainland. Germany already leads a NATO deployment in Lithuania with 1,000 troops, but an agreement signed on Monday will establish a permanent home for German soldiers.
The new German units will be based in two locations: the town of Rukla, which is 60 miles from the border of Kaliningrad, and near Lithuania’s capital of Vilnius, just 20 miles from Russia’s ally Belarus.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius signed the deal with his Lithuanian counterpart on Monday. “With this war-ready brigade, we are assuming a leadership responsibility here in the alliance and on NATO’s eastern flank,” he said. “The speed of the project clearly shows that Germany understood the new security reality.”
New deployments will begin next year, but the full force will not be established until 2027. Germany plans to send a tank brigade to Lithuania, but one of the armored units that will be part of the deployment sent all of its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, and it’s unclear if they will be replenished by 2027.
Also on Monday, the US signed a deal with NATO’s newest member, Finland, to access 15 bases in the country, including one on the Russian border. Moscow has warned the expansion of NATO infrastructure will lead to an increased Russian military buildup in the region.
Ostpreußen gehört uns!
I agree completely. Now, tell me what I’m agreeing to. 🙂
East Prussia and the city of Kaliningrad AKA Konigsberg used to be German, it was divided between Poland and Russia after the war. Kaliningrad is now Russian. After WWI W. Prussia was given to Poland giving Poland access to the Baltic Sea.
gehoert uns= belongs to us.
“East Prussia is ours!” See the history of East Prussia, now Kaliningrad.
How long will any of this survive the looming Great Western Depression?
Proxies don’t last long, Reagan used Iraq for 8 years against Iran, then Bush destroyed the rest of the Gulf war retreating Iraqi army inside Iraq, a war crime we don’t mention, all with NATO help. Clinton did all he could with sanctions and no fly zones and 500 000 killed children. W. Bush finished IRAQ WITH BOMB ATTACKS, not many boots on the ground, just contractors, LEAVING A FAILED NATION behind.
Now it is Germany’s turn again, the economy has been pretty much destroyed already, including the EU.
Scholz, the other Zelensky, he learned nothing but I am sure he earned a big commission for the deal.
All true, … but it’s hard to take watching Old Europe sink out of history, the fountenhead of Western high culture become a disintegrating backwater.
I am on your wave length. Outrage and sorrow come together. But Americans don’t know the roots of their culture, because they have no culture.
Yes, the cycle of life, … the long night of nihilism ….
America is spoiled, thinking that a large war like what Europe has suffered (twice) cannot happen in America.
German heavy combat units moved near the Russian border? Keep poking the bear MOFUers!!
Lordy … how many hours would these poor saps last in an existential Russian attack to save Kaliningrad?
About as long as Lithuania itself.
Exactly … a nice little tripwire to nuclear annihilation.
If Russia uses its current restrained approach in Ukraine (50%), they’d maybe last a week. Although they would likely run out of ammo in 3 days.
If Russia attacked with full force, they’d be destroyed in 24 hours.
Germany has become the second Ukraine, Scholz is the other Zelensky selling his nation as proxy to the USA. And the US does not even have to pay, the Germans will foot the bill too. It makes me sick.
Wow, the Russians must be losing sleep over this development.
Couldn’t stop laughing when I read the line “Germany plans to send a tank brigade to Lithuania, but one of the armored units that will be part of the deployment sent all of its Leopard tanks to Ukraine, and it’s unclear if they will be replenished by 2027.”
One of the richest, most advanced countries in the world, and they can’t find a single complete tank brigade to deploy. NATO! NATO! NATO!