Come a long way
As Berlin and Vilnius finalise an agreement on permanently stationing a German brigade in Lithuania, Germany underpins its claim to be the leading military power in the Baltic.
BERLIN/VILNIUS (own report) – The Lithuanian parliament, the Seimas, ratified an agreement last Thursday between Berlin and Vilnius on the permanent stationing of several thousand German soldiers in Lithuania. The defence ministers of both countries agreed the arrangements back in mid-September, thus preparing the legal framework for the Bundeswehr’s so-called Lithuania Brigade. The further growth and strengthening of this force essentially depends on two factors: the progress of German recruitment and the completion of the necessary infrastructure in Lithuania, which will include a 170-hectare military training area in Rūdninkai. The Ministry of Defence in Vilnius is reporting a comprehensive set of targets for the country’s militarisation. It is looking to establish a new armoured division of the Lithuanian armed forces, to boost military spending still further, to accelerate the arms build-up, and to realise its “concept of total defence”. The plans will enable German defence companies to expand their activities in Lithuania. The stationing of a Lithuanian Brigade is seen as a major success for Germany in terms of power politics. Berlin is consolidating its position and pushing ahead with its ambition to play a leading military role in the Baltic region.
The next milestone
The stationing agreement, which has just been ratified, is not the first milestone on the road to the Lithuanian Brigade. The initial announcement, in summer 2023, that German soldiers would be permanently stationed in Lithuania was followed by a “road map”, jointly signed by Vilnius and Berlin on 18 December 2023. This set out a timetable for project implementation. Accordingly, Germany then deployed an advance party of Bundeswehr soldiers to Lithuania at the beginning of April 2024 – just 21 ahead of the planned 4,800. According to the German Ministry of Defence, this preliminary group is to be expanded into an activation staff by a further 129 soldiers in October and November. Berlin is planning, in the first half of 2025, to call for troops and their families to commit to a move to the Lithuanian Brigade, with a target of 500 soldiers to be reached by 2026. The stationing of the bulk of the brigade, the remaining 4,300 soldiers, is to take place in the course of 2026 and 2027. The German Defence Ministry wants the force to be made up of the 203 Armoured Battalion (from Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia), the 122 Armoured Infantry Battalion (from Oberviechtach in Bavaria), and the German-led multinational NATO Enhanced Forward Presence Battalion, which has been stationed in Lithuania since 2017. The designated commander of the Brigade will be General Christoph Huber, who was the first to command the NATO battalion in Lithuania in 2017. German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius expressed his satisfaction in a press statement in mid-September that some thirty to fifty members of the German Armed Forces had already expressed their willingness to move to Lithuania with their families on a long-term basis. However, this is barely one per cent of the brigade’s target strength. “It’s getting off to an excellent start,” Pistorius nevertheless claims.[1]
New military training centre
According to the Lithuanian Defence Ministry, 80 percent of the German brigade will be stationed in Rūdninkai, south of Vilnius, with the remainder at the current location of the German-led NATO battalion in Rukla.[2] The Lithuanian government says it is spending 125 million euros on the construction of what it calls “the largest piece of military infrastructure in Lithuanian history”, including its own 170-hectare military training area. Until completion, the Lithuanian army will make its Nemenčinė and Rokantiškės military bases available to German troops. Both bases are also located on the outskirts of Vilnius. The Lithuanian Defence Minister has assured the German partners that building the military infrastructure and civilian services for the new brigade is “a priority” for his government.[3]
Legal framework
The “stationing agreement” concluded in September now creates “the legal framework for the presence of the Bundeswehr” and the soldiers’ families in Lithuania, notes the German Defence Ministry.[4] Among other things, it defines the German army’s assigned rights of using Lithuanian military bases, regulates German troop movements in Lithuania, and governs the powers of German military police on Lithuanian territory, including the issue of “sharing jurisdiction” with Lithuanian military police officers.[5] The agreement also covers access to everyday life in Lithuania for German soldiers and family members, ranging from healthcare and education to the labour market and tax law. Legal arrangements have also been outlined for the establishment of German schools and kindergartens, military shops, radio stations, driving schools and canteens.[6] The Lithuanian Ministry of Defence refers to this as “military civilian infrastructure”. The agreement and the impending “Artikelgesetz Zeitenwende”, an omnibus act designed to effect an epochal shift in Germany’s defence stance, are described by Pistorius as “important steps” towards the establishment of the Lithuanian Brigade. The German side hope these arrangements will create “incentives” for the longer-term relocation of German soldiers and their families to Lithuania.[7]
Good business for German arms industry
A Rheinmetall ammunitions factory is being built next to the military training area in Lithuania. A memorandum of understanding was signed to this effect in April by a representative of the company and two Lithuanian Ministers – of Defence and of Economy and Innovation.[8] Rheinmetall’s Lithuanian production site plays into the plan to “further intensify the defence partnership” between Germany and Lithuania, declares Pistorius.[9] Working alongside other German defence companies, Rheinmetall also produces the Leopard 2 tank, which Lithuania is keen to procure. Fifty units are currently under discussion. This procurement would fit with Vilnius’ efforts to build up a heavy infantry division. For the German arms industry, these represent important orders. The Leopard battle tanks are one of the flagship products of German weapon makers, who are facing increasing competition from other tank manufacturers. Poland, for example, has chosen to procure US Abrams and South Korean K2s instead of German tanks.[10]
Successful power politics
Germany is now spoken of as a “guarantor” of security in the Baltic region. It is “one of Lithuania’s most important allies”, said the Lithuanian Defence Minister, speaking to the press back in May. Berlin’s decision to station a brigade on Lithuanian soil demonstrated Germany’s “outstanding leadership”. In terms of security policy, the German government’s activities were “critical” for Lithuania and the Baltic region as a whole, he said.[11] Indeed, the Lithuanian Brigade served as a model for NATO. Ultimately, “the security of the entire European continent hinges on the success of this mission.”[12] The fact that Vilnius expressly thanked Germany for its “leadership” can be seen as a triumph for German power politics. Berlin has been taking advantage of the conflict with Russia for years to position itself as the leading military power in the Baltic region and, at the same time, strengthen its position within NATO. So Germany is consolidating its military influence in a region that it occupied during the Second World War. Germany was subsequently forced out of the region, later expanded politically and economically back into it after the 1990s as part of EU eastward enlargement, only to return again militarily as NATO moved eastward. In a speech to the Lithuanian parliament at the end of September, Pistorius recalled Germany’s position after the Second World War. In post-war Europe the border between NATO and Moscow’s sphere of influence ran through Germany. Today it ran through Ukraine, he said. Pistorius declared that, with the deployment of the Lithuanian Brigade, “I am reminded of how far we have come” since the end of the Cold War.[13]
More on this topic: Stützpunkt an der Ostflanke und Militärstützpunkt Litauen.
[1] Gemeinsame Verteidigung mit Litauen: „Meilenstein zur dauerhaften Stationierung einer Brigade“. Youtube-Kanal von Phoenix, 13.09.2024.
[2] Lithuania is ready for the arrival of the first German Brigade troops. kam.lt 20.03.2024.
[3] First German Brigade members arrived in Lithuania. kam.lt 08.04.2024.
[4] Neues zur Brigade Litauen: Pistorius und Kasčiūnas zeichnen gemeinsames Abkommen. bmvg.de 13.09.2024.
[5] Commander of the first NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battalion Battle Group has returned to Lithuania to take charge of the stationed German Brigade. kam.lt 02.10.2024.
[6] Constructions of a military campus for German Allies about to kick off at Rūdninkai Training Area. kam.lt 15.08.2024.
[7] Neues zur Brigade Litauen: Pistorius und Kasčiūnas zeichnen gemeinsames Abkommen. bmvg.de 13.09.2024.
[8] Lithuanian public institutions and Germany’s Rheinmetall sign a Memorandum of Understanding on an ammunition production site in Lithuania. kam.lt 16.04.2024.
[9] Rede Pistorius vor dem litauischen Parlament. Youtube-Kanal von BTB-concept, 26.09.2024.
[10] See also: Battle for the Tank Market.
[11] The German Brigade is a critical element of the NATO regional defence plans, says L. Kasčiūnas. kam.lt 21.05.2024.
[12] Germany and Lithuania: Overcoming Challenges to Safeguard Europe’s Peace. kam.lt 26.09.2024.
[13] Rede Pistorius vor dem litauischen Parlament. Youtube-Kanal von BTB-concept, 26.09.2024.
