Lithuania seeks to have German army brigade by 2026

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Lithuania has sought to have a German army brigade on its soil by 2026 in order to strengthen its security, a senior official said.

“The president has set the goal for it to happen by 2026, and we believe it is quite achievable,” public broadcaster LRT quoted the president’s chief foreign policy advisor Asta Skaisgiryte as saying on Monday.

“We must do everything possible to have this brigade in Lithuania as soon as possible,” she stressed.

Skaisgiryte said the issue was discussed during Monday’s visit by Germany’s Chief of Defense General Carsten Breuer in the scope of Berlin’s potential support for bolstering Lithuania’s security and specific steps to achieve this.

Germany will also help bolster Lithuania’s air defense capabilities, she added.

According to her, Lithuania, for its part, will be responsible for constructing infrastructure for housing German troops and their families.

Earlier in July, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius told reporters at the NATO summit in Vilnius that Berlin expected to have a plan for deploying the brigade in Lithuania ready by the fourth quarter of this year.

Germany has been leading NATO’s multinational battalion deployed in Lithuania since 2017.