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Brigadier General Nawrat with Defense Minister Lambrecht (SPD) visiting an exercise in Lithuania
Photo:
Mindaugas Kulbis / AP
In the future, the Bundeswehr will support the defense of Lithuania with its own combat troops brigade.
Brigadier General Christian Nawrat spoke of an important sign for the protection of NATO's eastern flank.
"We are aware of the importance of the order," said Nawrat of the German Press Agency at the Lithuanian military base in Rukla.
Nawrat is commander of Panzergrenadierbrigade 41 »Vorpommern«.
Lithuania borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and Russia's ally Belarus - and therefore has an increased need for security and protection.
The Bundeswehr mission serves "to reassure our Baltic allies and to deter Russia," said Nawrat.
Germany is clearly on the side of its allies.
After the Russian attack on Ukraine, NATO decided to increase protection of the eastern flank.
Germany is to lead a combat troop brigade with 3,000 to 5,000 soldiers for Lithuania.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz promised this during a visit to Vilnius in June.
»Sporty approach«
The German concept provides that weapons and ammunition should be kept on site.
However, the majority of the soldiers are kept ready in Germany – and can be quickly transferred to Lithuania in the event of tension.
In the future, the brigade should be operational within ten days.
"That's a really sporty approach," Nawrat said.
The biggest challenges are the logistics and mobility for moving troops and equipment.
Individual parts of the brigade should also come to Lithuania regularly to train with soldiers from the alliance partner.
"We show presence through training and drills," Nawrat said.
The first maneuver - "Fast Griffin" - is already underway.
Around 200 German soldiers and around 50 transport and combat vehicles will be involved by mid-October.
The training and exercise projects are organized and coordinated by Nawrat and his management staff.
This arrived in Rukla at the beginning of September.
He will be permanently present in the Baltic EU and NATO country.
For this purpose, a so-called advanced command post was set up in Rukla, which is supposed to keep the military command lines in hand and maintain local knowledge.
In Rukla, Germany has had a NATO battalion with around 1,600 soldiers since 2017.
More than half of them belong to the Bundeswehr.
mrc/dpa
