Germany to order troops into under-staffed brigade in Lithuania

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius will order military personnel to transfer to Germany’s armoured brigade in Lithuania to fill vacant positions, the German Defence Ministry said Monday, according to LRT. The measure will affect several hundred military personnel.

Volunteers have filled nearly 80% of positions in the brigade, which is being stationed in Lithuania. The ministry said the biggest shortages were among logistics and IT specialists, similar to shortages in the civilian economy.

Germany has committed to permanently stationing in Lithuania a brigade prepared for combat missions and capable of operating independently in response to Europe’s changed security situation following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The brigade is planned to include 4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian employees and is expected to become operational next year. Permanent bases are being built in Rūdninkai, south of Vilnius, and Rukla, northwest of the capital.

“Volunteering remains the main principle guiding us,” the ministry said. It also plans to consider shorter deployments, rotation models and short-term duty visits to address staffing shortages.

The ministry said the number of volunteer applications had increased noticeably since the end of April, with more than 2,500 soldiers volunteering to serve in the brigade.

Germany and Lithuania agreed on the conditions for deploying a combat-ready brigade in the NATO member Baltic country no later than 2027 in an intergovernmental agreement signed in 2024.