German Chancellor Friedrich Merz visited Lithuania to mark the first permanent deployment of foreign troops from Berlin to Europe since World War II, as he called on allies to step up their efforts to bolster European defenses against a hostile Russia.
As crowds waved Lithuanian, German and Ukrainian flags, Merz and his Defense Minister, Boris Pistorius, attended a ceremony to officially launch the formation of an armored brigade designed to protect NATO’s eastern flank.
The new heavy combat unit, the 45th Armored Brigade, will consist of 4,800 German soldiers and 200 civilian personnel and was announced in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – but also to Donald Trump’s messages to Europe that he “will no longer tolerate an unbalanced relationship that encourages dependence” – and is scheduled to reach full operational capability by 2027.
“The security of our Baltic allies is ours too”
“Together with our partners, we are determined to defend the territory of the Alliance against any attack. The security of our Baltic allies is ours too,” Merz stressed.
The deployment, unprecedented for the Bundeswehr (German armed forces), is aimed at strengthening the defense of Lithuania and the other Baltic republics – Estonia and Latvia – former Soviet states that have become members of NATO and the EU and fear a Russian attack.
At a press conference in Vilnius, with Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda, Friedrich Merz stated that Russia’s “aggressive revisionism”, which seeks to redraw the European map, poses serious risks to the security of the entire continent, not just Ukraine.
“United as Europeans, but when possible we play as a team and with the US”
Mertz, the first German chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr, said that “we stand firmly with Ukraine, but we also stand united as Europeans as a whole and we play, whenever possible, as a team with the US.”
In preparation for next month’s NATO summit in The Hague, he stressed that the Alliance must “steadily strengthen European defense capabilities and our defense industry must expand its capabilities – it must produce more for Europe and produce more in Europe.”
Gitanas Nauseda thanked Merz for Germany’s support for the new combat unit, which was set up at the request of Lithuania, which with its 2.9 million inhabitants borders the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad between Poland and Lithuania, as well as Belarus, a close ally of Moscow.
“We understand the threat and believe we can confront it with our allies,” she said, noting that Lithuania plans to meet NATO’s new goal of spending 5% of its gross domestic product on defense by next year.
“Our friends and partners demand this of us.”
For his part, Merz said that Germany, as Europe’s largest economy, would achieve the same benchmark by 2032, based on a calculation of 3.5% of GDP for military procurement and 1.5% for military-critical infrastructure, including roads, bridges and ports.
Merz’s rhetoric was welcomed by European partners as a continuation and extension of the “Zeitenwende” (turning point) in defense policy established by his predecessor, Olaf Scholz.
While Scholz’s center-left government created a special fund of 100 billion After spending billions of euros on defense equipment and finally meeting NATO’s 2% of GDP defense spending commitment, Merz moved to release the constitutional “brake” on debt to allow for much more military investment.
In his first major speech to the German parliament last week, the chancellor promised, after years of “neglect,” to create “Europe’s strongest conventional army” – Germany does not have its own nuclear weapons, by the way.
“This is befitting of Europe’s most populous and economically strongest country. Our friends and partners expect this of us. Indeed, they practically demand it,” he claimed.
Pistorius, who was also defense minister under Scholz, pledged when the new government took office this month that Germany would be “ready to defend every square inch of NATO territory” and called the brigade in Lithuania a “clear message to any potential adversary.”
Fears over Trump’s moves
Donald Trump has put intense pressure on other NATO members to increase their military spending, often singling out Germany in his accusations of European “cheating” at the expense of Washington.
The US president has also troubled European allies with conflicting messages about his stance on the defense of Ukraine, while raising fears about the US commitment to NATO’s mutual defense clause.
Asked about reports that Trump could order the removal of US troops, Merz said he had “no indication that the US will withdraw troops from Europe.”
The commitment to Baltic security has created several challenges for Germany, however, including finding enough personnel willing to serve there. In January, the Bundestag passed legislation to make this prospect more attractive, with more flexible working hours, increased benefits and overtime.
