Germany and its NATO partners are ready to defend every inch of the Alliance’s territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday, the 22nd of May, at a military ceremony in Vilnius to mark the establishment of a German brigade in Lithuania, reports Reuters.
The brigade, with thousands of troops on NATO’s eastern flank, is part of Europe’s efforts to strengthen the region’s defence in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and US President Donald Trump’s pressure on allies to invest more in their own security.
“Anyone challenging NATO needs to know that we are ready. Anyone who threatens an ally needs to know that the whole Alliance will stand together to defend every inch of NATO territory,” Merz told delegates at the inauguration of the new 45th Armoured Brigade.
“The defence of Vilnius is the defence of Berlin,” he added to a cheering crowd waving the flags of both countries, telling them that Lithuanians can count on Germany.
Merz was joined at the ceremony by his defence minister Boris Pistorius and Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, who announced that Russia and Belarus had held military exercises near the Lithuanian border.
The three Baltic States are considered one of the regions most vulnerable to a Russian attack.
MERZ SAID THAT RUSSIA IS THREATENING PEACE AND ORDER IN EUROPE THROUGH ITS WAR IN UKRAINE AND HYBRID ATTACKS ACROSS EUROPE, INCLUDING ESPIONAGE, SABOTAGE AND CYBER-ATTACKS.
The German brigade will be based in Rudininkai, near the capital Vilnius.
Some 400 military personnel from Germany have already moved to Lithuania to start building the brigade. It will consist of 4 800 soldiers and 2 000 vehicles, including several tanks, and is expected to be fully ready by the end of 2027.
Germany is aware of its responsibility, Merz said, pledging to modernise the Bundeswehr. His predecessor, Olaf Scholz, also made such a pledge after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“Our goal is to provide all the necessary financial means to make the Bundeswehr the strongest conventional army in Europe in the future,” Merz said.
Since 2017, Germany has been leading a NATO battle group in Lithuania. It is one of four units in the Baltic States and Poland set up to reinforce NATO’s eastern border after Russia seized Crimea in 2014.
Promising to modernise its army, Germany relaxed its constitutional debt limit in March to allow it to spend more money on defence.
German Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul also backed Trump’s call to increase NATO defence spending to 5% of GDP.
NATO estimates that German defence spending was 2.12% of GDP last year, up from 1.19% in 2014.
Lithuania, which already spends more than 3% of GDP on defence this year, plans to increase it to more than 5% next year. Part of this money will go towards establishing a base for German troops, which is expected to cost more than one billion euros.