Germany to deploy a brigade in Lithuania by 2027

The German Ground Forces will deploy a permanently based mechanized brigade in Lithuania until 2027.

The German Ministry of Defense announced this on X (Twitter).

The decision was made after the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, as part of a 2016 agreement aimed at strengthening NATO’s presence in countries that share a common border with Russia and Belarus.

On December 19, 2023, Germany and Lithuania signed an official agreement on the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania.

The permanent deployment of a 4,800-strong German Ground Forces brigade will strengthen Lithuania’s border with Russia and allow for their deployment and combat missions in the shortest possible time.

According to the plan, the brigade will be fully operational in 2027, and its deployment will be launched in 2025-2026.

As the brigade will be stationed in Lithuania on a permanent basis, the servicemen and their families will be able to change their place of residence, and the German Ministry of Defense will provide them with housing, German-language kindergartens, schools, and air transportation to Germany.

Germany is currently leading a multinational NATO battlegroup in Lithuania of about 1,000 troops, which will be integrated into the brigade.

The eastern flank has moved to the east, and it is Germany’s duty to protect it.

In 2022, the Lithuanian Minister of Defense stated that preparations for the deployment of a German brigade would be completed in 2026.

Back in the summer of this year, Lithuania started preparing military infrastructure to receive the German brigade two years sooner than planned – in mid-2025, not in 2027.

However, due to problems with manning divisions and brigades, the full combat readiness of the German brigade in Lithuania was postponed until 2027.