The German combat brigade that is to be permanently stationed in Lithuania will not be a closed, existing army brigade. On the contrary: the individual elements of the brigade are to be thrown together from several army brigades and then reorganized as the Lithuania brigade. There are also support units from the medical service, the armed forces base and the cyber and information space (CIR). Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced this to the press today after presenting the current status to the Defense Committee.
“It is not about an existing brigade from Germany being transferred one-to-one to Lithuania. But the brigade will be formed from elements already existing in Germany and then brought together in Lithuania. In addition to the fighting force, there are support forces, as is necessary and usual,” said Pistorius.
It is not yet clear which troops or units will be permanently stationed in the Baltic country as part of the Lithuania Brigade. The minister said: “Only after the planning has been completed, i.e. by the end of the year, will it be possible to predict which troops from which locations in Germany will make a contribution.” In an interview with the Bundeswehr format “In demand” Pistorius also explained: “We want to do everything we can to avoid site closures. That is the clear message. Everything else will come from further considerations and planning over the next few weeks and months.”
Since, according to the Defense Minister, the Lithuania Brigade is supposed to be a “heavy combat brigade,” it is foreseeable that the tank and armored infantry brigades in particular will have to give up forces. A weakening of these strong fighting units, which will not only lose high-quality material, but also high-quality personnel.
In addition to the German soldiers, Dutch and Norwegians could also become part of the new brigade in Lithuania. Pistorius is currently being discussed here.
Principle of voluntariness subject to reservation
The Defense Minister emphasized to the press that the brigade was formed on a voluntary basis. But he also added that in the end it is the result that counts. “I have great confidence that we will find enough men and women who will do this voluntarily,” said Pistorius. When asked what would happen if not enough volunteers came forward, he added: "I don't have these doubts about voluntariness and in case B, we will deal with it."
Damit hält sich Pistorius offenbar eine Hintertür offen, für den nicht sehr unwahrscheinlichen Fall, dass sich nicht bis zu 3500 Soldatinnen und Soldaten aus allen relevanten Tätigkeitsbereichen freiwillig melden sollten. Insbesondere dürfte dies bei ausgewählten Dienstposten knifflig werden, für die es nur wenig ausgebildetes Personal gibt. Es müssen sich entsprechend nicht nur bis zu 3500 Männer und Frauen melden, sondern das entsprechende Personal muss auch noch passgenau mit allen notwendigen Dienstposten übereinstimmen.
Schedule and a new management staff
Regarding the schedule, the minister said that the “roadmap” for the planned deployment in cooperation with the Lithuanians should be in place by the end of this year. The incident team should arrive in Lithuania in the second quarter of 2024. The deployment of a formation staff and the start of the gradual relocation of the first units of the Lithuania Brigade are planned for the fourth quarter of the same year. This relocation will take place in parallel and depending on the Lithuanians building the necessary infrastructure, Pistorius continued. He expects a low three-digit number of soldiers to be in Lithuania at the end of 2024 as part of the Lithuania Brigade.
The new brigade should then officially be put into service in 2025. However, the minister added that this did not mean that all 3,500 soldiers would be on site. This will continue to depend on the existing infrastructure. In addition, the German Enhanced Forward Presence (EFP) Battlegroup will also be integrated into the Lithuania Brigade in the medium term, said Pistorius.
With the commissioning of an additional brigade, without supporting it with additional personnel or material, the number of command staff in the Bundeswehr will increase once again, without the simultaneous increase in new resources.
Weekend commuter to Lithuania?
The region around the Lithuanian city of Vilnius and/or the city of Kaunas is currently being considered as stationing locations for the German soldiers. The BMVg hopes that this choice of location will be very attractive, on the one hand for the soldiers and on the other hand also for their families.
It is obviously not certain whether all soldiers and their families will actually move to Lithuania in the end. So the minister said that there will be some who will live locally and some who will commute. This would depend on who and how many would volunteer for service in Lithuania.
Editorial staff / oh
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