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| Germany Sends Additional 100 Soldier to Lithuania For Strengthen NATO |
Klaipeda - About a hundred German troops arrived in Lithuania on Sunday (4/9/2022), after Germany pledged to increase its presence in NATO's eastern flank following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. As reported by AFP, the German troops arrived in the port city of Klaipeda. They would form a new brigade commando unit, a group usually consisting of about 4,000 soldiers.
"Our message to our allies here on the east side is that we are committed to ensuring security," Brigade Commander Christian Nawrat said. “The commando unit will maintain a permanent presence in the Baltic states. Meanwhile combat units will join them for training," he added.
A high-ranking member of the German military said the first exercises could be held in October. Germany, which heads the NATO combat group in Lithuania, already has about 1,500 German troops in Lithuania.
The formerly Soviet-controlled Baltic states, such as Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, all of which are now members of the EU and NATO, fear they will be next if Russia defeats Ukraine.
Since the start of the conflict, they have called for more NATO troops and the formation of brigades to replace the current units. Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in June his country was ready to deploy more troops to Lithuania "towards a strong combat brigade that can operate both as a deterrent and as a defense against aggression".
NATO has strengthened its eastern flank in recent years, especially since Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. In 2017, four multi-national battle groups were deployed to the three Baltic states and Poland.