Lithuania is building a base for 4000 German troops near the border with Russia
Kyiv • UNN
Lithuania has begun construction of a military base to accommodate 4,000 German troops until 2027. This is the first permanent deployment of German troops abroad since World War II.
Lithuania has begun construction of a military base that will house up to 4,000 combat-ready German troops by the end of 2027. This will be the first permanent deployment of the German military abroad since World War II, Reuters writes, according to UNN .
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Germany committed to deploying troops to the NATO and European Union member state bordering Russia last year. German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius compared the decision to the deployment of Allied troops in West Germany during the Cold War to protect Western Europe in the event of a Soviet attack.
According to Lithuanian Armed Forces Commander Raimundas Vaiksnoras, the country will spend more than €1 billion on the development of the base over the next three years. This is one of the largest construction projects in its history - for a country with a population of 2.9 million people and an economy that is one-tenth the size of Germany's, it is a “huge investment,” Vaiksnoras said on the sidelines of the launch ceremony.
“The brigade will work as a means of reassuring our population and deterrence to push back the Russians,” he added.
The base in Rudninkai, located near the Lithuanian capital Vilnius and just 20 kilometers from Russia's ally Belarus, will house up to 4,000 troops, storage facilities for tanks and other equipment, and firing ranges of all sizes. About a thousand more German military and civilian contractors will be deployed at other sites in Lithuania.
However, construction contracts have been signed for only a fifth of the buildings in the Rudninkai complex. This raises concerns that it will not be ready in time. Lithuanian Defense Minister Laurinas Kasciunas told reporters that his ministry would sign contracts for the rest of the work by the end of this year, when his government's term expires.
“The German government has requested 2.93 billion euros from parliament to order 105 Leopard 2 A8 tanks, partly to equip a Lithuanian base, according to a confidential draft budget seen by Reuters in June. However, budget squabbles within Germany's fractured coalition are jeopardizing Berlin's pledge to modernize its armed forces,” the article says.
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