Germany stations permanent troops in Lithuania, in first since WWII

800 Bundeswehr soldiers have departed Berlin for an indefinite deployment in Lithuania. It marks the first time since the end of the Second World War that the German Army has stationed troops abroad permanently.

800 Bundeswehr soldiers depart for Vilnius

Travelling with Chancellor Friedrich Merz (CDU) and Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD), 800 Bundeswehr soldiers have departed Berlin for the Lithuanian capital of Vilnius. They will be permanently stationed in the Baltic country.

The Bundeswehr already has eight brigades temporarily stationed in Lithuania, but the so-called “Panzerbrigade 45” is the first permanent deployment - anywhere in the world - since the end of WWII.

According to Germany’s defence plan, a total of 5.000 Bundeswehr soldiers will be permanently stationed in Lithuania by 2027, namely in Vilnius and Kaunas. On Lithuania’s border with Belarus, a NATO base is also under construction, the Rudninkai military training area.

The German government is constructing new roads, a railway, schools and Kitas for the family members of soldiers it hopes will take up positions in Rudninkai. But the Bundeswehr is struggling to find a further 4.800 soldiers and 200 civilian employees it wants to station there by 2027.

Flexible working hours, increased allowances, increased overtime pay and post-deployment support have all been listed as bonuses of the job, in the hope that more troops will voluntarily relocate to Rudninkai.

Why has Germany chosen to deploy troops to Lithuania?

Bordering Russian-allied Belarus, the Baltic Sea and the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, Germany sees Lithuania as a strategic location from which it can send a clear message to Russia. 

"Germany will be ready to defend every square inch of NATO territory," Defence Minister Pistorius told the Bundestag floor recently, in his first speech since the new coalition took office. 

Pistorius argued that Germany’s deployment of troops in Lithuania was "a strong signal to our partners and a clear sign to any potential adversary”.