{"id":10371,"date":"2025-04-11T09:05:17","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T09:05:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10371\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T09:05:17","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T09:05:17","slug":"germany-launches-permanent-troop-deployment-on-natos-eastern-flank-politico","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/10371\/","title":{"rendered":"Germany launches permanent troop deployment on NATO\u2019s eastern flank \u2013 POLITICO"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Berlin <a href=\"https:\/\/www.politico.eu\/article\/germany-station-4000-soldiers-permanently-lithuania\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pledged the long-term deployment<\/a> in 2023, breaking with decades of German defense policy that avoided permanent stationing of combat troops abroad. The unit is set to be fully operational by 2027 and will eventually be based in a new military complex in R\u016bdninkai, roughly 30 kilometers south of Vilnius. Until then, troops will operate out of temporary Lithuanian bases.<\/p>\n<p>The plan includes not just frontline forces but also support units \u2014 such as a medical center, signal company and command support teams \u2014 across multiple locations.<\/p>\n<p>Currently, 150 German troops are stationed in Lithuania. That number is expected to reach 500 by year\u2019s end.<\/p>\n<p>For NATO, the deployment represents a critical part of the alliance\u2019s shift to deterrence by forward defense. For Germany, it\u2019s a major step in shedding its reputation as a reluctant military power.<\/p>\n<p>Lithuania, which borders Russia\u2019s Kaliningrad exclave and Kremlin ally Belarus, sees the move as vital to its national security. The war in Ukraine has turned the Baltic region into a frontline zone \u2014 and Berlin\u2019s presence into a symbol of NATO\u2019s long-term commitment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Berlin pledged the long-term deployment in 2023, breaking with decades of German defense policy that avoided permanent stationing&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":10372,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[767,1111,473,2000,299,7058,1824,1114,2597,2821,332,811,657,771,335],"class_list":{"0":"post-10371","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-baltics","9":"tag-belarus","10":"tag-defense","11":"tag-eu","12":"tag-europe","13":"tag-european-defense","14":"tag-germany","15":"tag-lithuania","16":"tag-military","17":"tag-nato","18":"tag-russia","19":"tag-security","20":"tag-ukraine","21":"tag-war","22":"tag-war-in-ukraine"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114318538167858536","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10371","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10371"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10371\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10372"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10371"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10371"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10371"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}