As of: February 29, 2024, 2:33 p.m
By: Franziska Schwarz
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Press
Split
The deployment on NATO's eastern flank in Lithuania is a historic step.
There are still some questions unanswered for the Panzergrenadiers affected.
Oberviechtach/Weiden – Defense Minister Boris Pistorius once again personally visited the Bundeswehr.
The SPD politician visited soldiers in Bavaria who are supposed to go to NATO's eastern flank in Lithuania.
For the first time, a complete brigade is to be set up abroad.
Pistorius is hoping for Bundeswehr volunteers for Lithuania
Pistorius described the project as “groundbreaking” during his visit on Wednesday (February 28).
The Panzergrenadier Battalion 122, based in Weiden, is to move permanently to Lithuania as part of a Bundeswehr brigade of almost 5,000 soldiers.
Pistorius had his
Enticement offers for the Lithuania Brigade were launched last autumn.
Defense Minister Pistorius visits the Grenzwald barracks in Bavaria © Daniel Löb/dpa
The minister can perhaps hope that his appeal will be heard.
Pistorius reported at the meeting that a good half of those potentially affected were interested in moving to Lithuania, the
Spiegel
noted . The unit commander was also confident that many of his soldiers would volunteer.
The commander also made a joke: When the reporter asked what his soldiers needed for the transfer to Lithuania, he replied: “Just a bed, a chair and a closet.”
Bundeswehr soldiers on NATO’s eastern flank – Pistorius: “It’s not for nothing”
An open question for the traffic light coalition is apparently how the benefits for Lithuania volunteers should be paid for.
According to the report, Pistorius announced that the department would vote on an article law in the spring that would regulate the most attractive framework conditions possible for the soldiers involved in the multi-year mission.
The law should come into force at the turn of the year.
“It is clear that this is not free,” Pistorius also made clear in this context.
The NATO obligations that the Bundeswehr will fulfill will extend to Oberviechtach in eastern Bavaria, Pistorius said at the start of his visit.
He took part in combat training in Weiden and got an idea of how the soldiers handled the 2000 self-propelled howitzer.
Bundeswehr is considering relocation to Lithuania – even the end of the Ukraine war would not change anything
According to Pistorius, the actual relocation of the brigade should begin in 2025 as soon as the necessary infrastructure is in place on the Lithuanian side.
The focus of the relocation is then planned for 2026 and should be completed in 2027.
A possible end to the war in Ukraine would not change this, said the minister.
Firstly, no one currently knows what the end of the war would look like, secondly, this does not necessarily change the threat situation.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has “clearly stated what his goal is,” warned Pistorius.
Within the Bundeswehr, the move of the Panzergrenadiers from Oberviechtach is to be compensated for by settling Artillery Battalion 131 from Weiden, 40 kilometers away, there.
This would actually overcompensate for the number of soldiers leaving.
Only the newly formed 375 Panzer Artillery Battalion will remain in Weiden, although it will grow up.
(frs with dpa and AFP)