Friedrich Merz promised to help defend “every inch” of Nato territory as he joined the inauguration of the first German military brigade to be permanently stationed on foreign soil since the second world war.
The new German chancellor declared that “the security of our Baltic allies is also our security” as he attended a military parade in Vilnius to honour the German army’s new 45th armoured brigade based in Lithuania.
The deployment was decided in 2023 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, which amplified fears in the three former Soviet republics that they could be next.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda described the brigade as “historic”, adding: “This is a day of trust, responsibility and action.”
The deployment still numbers only about 400 soldiers. It will not achieve its full 5,000-strong capacity until 2027 — a timeline that reflects the scale of the challenge for the German armed forces as well as for their Lithuanian hosts.
Europe’s largest nation sees the multibillion-euro commitment to station a permanent brigade in the small Baltic nation as an important part of the Zeitenwende — or sea change — in its role in the continent’s defence after Vladimir Putin ordered the invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
That shift was announced by then chancellor Olaf Scholz, who also created a €100bn special fund to overhaul the German armed forces, which had suffered from decades of under-investment.
But Merz, who took office this month, has vowed to go further as he has cast himself as a staunch supporter of Ukraine and of Nato.
The new chancellor has pledged to make the German military the strongest conventional army in Europe, amended the nation’s strict borrowing rules to allow unlimited spending on defence, and indicated he backed Nato’s new spending target of up to 5 per cent of GDP.
The Lithuanian brigade has been spearheaded by German defence minister Boris Pistorius, the only minister from the last government to remain in post. He announced the plan in 2023 as Nato beefed up its presence on the eastern flank in response to the Ukraine conflict. Germany expects to spend €4bn to €6bn on weapons to equip the brigade, with running costs of about €1bn a year once it reaches full strength.
Lithuania, a country of 3mn people, shares a border on its west with the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad and on its east with Belarus, a Moscow ally in the war. Its 100km border with Poland, known as the Suwalki Gap, is the only land link between the Baltic states and the rest of Europe and is viewed as a critical possible weak point in the event of a Russian attack.
Only last week the region witnessed a tense encounter after Estonia moved to inspect an oil tanker it said was a member of Russia’s sanctions-busting “shadow fleet” and Moscow responded by sending a fighter jet.
The symbolism of German soldiers being cheered on by flag-waving crowds in a country once occupied by the Nazis was not lost on some onlookers in Vilnius’s Cathedral Square on Thursday. “At least they asked this time,” joked Robertas, an 18-year-old history student, as he joined several thousand others in braving heavy rain to watch the parade and a flyover by 17 German military helicopters.
Daiva Sveikackaitė, a 53-year-old artist, said that Lithuanians knew the dark history of the Nazi years. But she said that the later Soviet annexation — and the present-day threat from Russia — weighed more heavily in a country that fiercely guards the independence that it gained in 1990.
People look at a German Leopard 2A6 main battle tank in Vilnius © Petras Malukas/AFP/Getty Images
“It gives me shivers, to see this in the heart of Vilnius,” she said, pointing to the German tanks parked nearby. “But I understand that we need it. We are a very small country. We are afraid for our nation.” She was glad, she said, that Europe was “finally waking up”.
The UK has 900 soldiers stationed in Estonia and Canada has about 1,900 in Latvia, a figure it has said will rise to 2,200 next year. But Germany’s will be the biggest of any Nato deployment in the Baltic states. The aim, said one German official, was to “make Putin think twice” about any aggression in the region.
A senior Baltic official said that he hoped the brigade would “bind what should be Europe’s most important country directly to our fate”.
The German soldiers will be stationed at a base about 30km from the Belarusian border in the military town of Rūdninkai. It will include a tank battalion equipped with the most modern Leopard 2 A8 tanks.
‘You’re separated from your family, leaving your comfort zone at home. For many, that’s not easy,’ said Enrico, a military intelligence officer who joined the new German brigade in March © Laura Pitel/FT
The decision to make the position a permanent posting — meaning that soldiers bring their families with them — has created logistical challenges as well as tensions over funding in a country whose total budget is €23bn this year.
Germany has asked Lithuania to build infrastructure and services for the brigade, including schools and day-care centres as well as barracks and training facilities. “It’s hugely expensive,” Lithuania’s finance minister, Rimantas Šadžius, told the Financial Times. “Our assessment is somewhere from €1.5bn to €1.7bn.”
Berlin has also faced the challenge of making the brigade attractive enough for its soldiers.
The head of the armed forces, Carsten Breuer, has said the Bundeswehr has struggled to find enough people willing to go. In response, the defence ministry has enhanced its overtime and bonus payments and increased support for accompanying spouses.
“You’re separated from your family, leaving your comfort zone at home. For many, that’s not easy,” said Enrico, a military intelligence officer who joined the new German brigade in March.
The deployment also risks putting strain on other parts of the Bundeswehr, which as part of its Nato commitments has pledged to send 35,000 soldiers into battle with 30 days’ notice — a target experts say will be difficult to meet.
Ben Schreer, a defence expert with the International Institute for Strategic Studies, said the difficulties in deploying just one brigade encapsulated the challenge of making the Bundeswehr ready to defend Germany and Europe.
“We’re talking about 5,000 people, but it’s taking three to four years to actually happen. It tells you how difficult this change is and how dire operational readiness still is in some parts of the Bundeswehr.”