President says German brigade will deploy in Lithuania at full strength

Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda told LRT on Tuesday that Germany’s brigade will be deployed in Lithuania at its full planned strength, despite doubts over whether the deployment will be completed on time.

“Rest assured, the German brigade will be in Lithuania at its full strength,” Nausėda said while visiting New York. He said the deployment would proceed as promised by the German chancellor and the German government.

Under an agreement between Lithuania and Germany, Berlin plans to deploy a brigade of about 5,000 troops in Lithuania by the end of 2027. Most of the brigade will be based at the Rūdninkai training ground in the Šalčininkai district. Engineering and reconnaissance units, rather than combat units, are planned for Rukla in the Jonava district.

Questions have recently been raised over whether the full brigade will arrive on schedule. Germany has struggled to recruit enough volunteers to serve in Lithuania, while the far-right Alternative for Germany party won local elections in several German states.

US troop rotation expected to include about 1,000 soldiers

Nausėda also said a returning US troop rotation would most likely include about 1,000 soldiers. He said the number would probably be similar to the previous rotation and would not be lower, adding that a difference of 100 troops in either direction would not be significant.

“What matters most is that this is an extremely important deterrent factor in the current geopolitical context,” the president said.

Earlier on Tuesday, Nausėda announced that a new US troop rotation was on its way to Lithuania. He said he had been told that the “logistical flywheel is turning”, which he described as evidence that the process had reached its final stage.

The president said he had received assurances from the United States that the rotation would return and that the decision, which is important for Lithuania’s security, had essentially been made. He said the decision had been influenced by Lithuania’s offer of a generous host-nation support package, its commitment to allocate 5.4 percent of gross domestic product to defence, its solidarity on issues related to the Strait of Hormuz and its readiness to send a demining mission.

Nausėda also cited energy and economic cooperation, as well as discussions with the head of defence industry company Lockheed Martin about potential projects in Lithuania. The talks covered expanding the company’s activities in the country, involving Lithuanian companies in its supply chains, localising the production of individual components and developing maintenance capabilities, according to BNS.

“I believe the United States has come to see Lithuania as both a reliable and a strong partner with which it is worth cooperating strategically,” Nausėda said.

BNS reported that the United States is currently reviewing the presence of its troops in Europe. More than 1,000 US soldiers completed their rotation in Lithuania this summer. The United States has regularly deployed troop battalions in Lithuania since 2019, changing their status to continuous rotational deployment after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.