Scholz travels to NATO's eastern flank: the Baltic states put pressure on the chancellor

Created: 06/07/2022, 10:10 am

By: Andreas Schmid

Olaf Scholz on Tuesday morning on his way to Lithuania.

© Michael Kappeler/dpa

Olaf Scholz visits NATO's eastern flank.

The Baltic states are expecting a lot from the chancellor's short trip.

The journey in the news ticker.

• Chancellor Olaf Scholz travels to the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius.

• He meets with the heads of state of Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia.

  There will be a press conference in the early afternoon.

• According to the Chancellor's Office, the central topic of the trip is the Ukraine war and securing NATO's eastern flank.

• This news ticker about Scholz' trip to the Baltic States is continuously updated.

Vilnius - Olaf Scholz has never been as close to the Ukraine war as he was on Tuesday.

The Chancellor, who has not traveled to Ukraine since the beginning of the war, is visiting NATO's eastern flank.

Ukraine war: Scholz on NATO's eastern flank

Scholz travels to Lithuania on Tuesday morning.

The Chancellor is thus visiting a NATO country that borders Russia and feels threatened by the nuclear power.

The other two Baltic states of Latvia and Estonia are also involved in the talks.

In Vilnius, Scholz first met Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda.

This will be followed by lunch with Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas and Latvian Prime Minister Krišjānis Kariņš.

A joint press conference is then planned.

Russian neighbor: Estonia, Latvia and also Lithuania in the west (Kaliningrad) border on Russia.

© Screenshot Google Maps

Ukraine war: Latvia puts pressure on Scholz

In the run-up to the meeting, the Baltic states put pressure on Scholz.

Latvia's President Egils Levits pushed for "concrete proposals" for stronger protection of the eastern NATO alliance area.

"We expect that Germany will also have the overall security of NATO in mind and will therefore also support this increase in NATO's presence in all three Baltic states," Levits told the German Press Agency.

The Baltic states had warned of a military escalation in the Ukraine conflict long before Russia's February 24 invasion.

The fact that Germany has agreed to station more soldiers in Lithuania is "a very important contribution".

But there must also be more troops from NATO allies in Latvia and Estonia, said the Latvian head of state.

Germany is the head of the multinational EFP Battlegroup based in Lithuania.

In this context, Scholz will also visit the German NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) contingent in Rukla, Lithuania, in the afternoon.

In this article we will keep you up to date on all developments related to Scholz' trip to the Baltic States.