Latest news with #GitanasNausėda
CNN
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Germany deploys permanent troops to another country for the first time since World War II
Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO's eastern flank and declared Thursday that 'the security of our Baltic allies is also our security' as worries about Russian aggression persist. He said Berlin's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security. The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that a German brigade is being based outside Germany on a long-term basis since World War II. 'This is a historic day,' Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after meeting Merz. 'This is a day of trust, responsibility and action.' Germany has had troops in Lithuania — which borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus — since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO's eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an 'activation staff' of about 250 people last fall. The 45 Armored Brigade is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. Dozens of military helicopters roared over the central cathedral square in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, as the inauguration wrapped up on a rainy Thursday afternoon, with hundreds of troops and spectators attending. Merz told the event that 'protecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin.' The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, 'Germany is investing massively in its own armed forces.' 'With this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security,' he added. 'Together with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every — every — aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.' Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany's defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by US President Donald Trump. A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Merz said in Lithuania that those figures 'seem sensible to us, they also seem reachable — at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. 'We stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole — and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the US,' he said.
CNN
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Germany deploys permanent troops to another country for the first time since World War II
Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO's eastern flank and declared Thursday that 'the security of our Baltic allies is also our security' as worries about Russian aggression persist. He said Berlin's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security. The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that a German brigade is being based outside Germany on a long-term basis since World War II. 'This is a historic day,' Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after meeting Merz. 'This is a day of trust, responsibility and action.' Germany has had troops in Lithuania — which borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus — since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO's eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an 'activation staff' of about 250 people last fall. The 45 Armored Brigade is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. Dozens of military helicopters roared over the central cathedral square in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, as the inauguration wrapped up on a rainy Thursday afternoon, with hundreds of troops and spectators attending. Merz told the event that 'protecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin.' The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, 'Germany is investing massively in its own armed forces.' 'With this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security,' he added. 'Together with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every — every — aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.' Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany's defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by US President Donald Trump. A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Merz said in Lithuania that those figures 'seem sensible to us, they also seem reachable — at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. 'We stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole — and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the US,' he said.
CNN
23-05-2025
- Politics
- CNN
Germany deploys permanent troops to another country for the first time since World War II
Chancellor Friedrich Merz inaugurated a groundbreaking German brigade in Lithuania that is meant to help protect NATO's eastern flank and declared Thursday that 'the security of our Baltic allies is also our security' as worries about Russian aggression persist. He said Berlin's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies to invest in security. The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that a German brigade is being based outside Germany on a long-term basis since World War II. 'This is a historic day,' Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after meeting Merz. 'This is a day of trust, responsibility and action.' Germany has had troops in Lithuania — which borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus — since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO's eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an 'activation staff' of about 250 people last fall. The 45 Armored Brigade is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. Dozens of military helicopters roared over the central cathedral square in Lithuania's capital, Vilnius, as the inauguration wrapped up on a rainy Thursday afternoon, with hundreds of troops and spectators attending. Merz told the event that 'protecting Vilnius is protecting Berlin.' The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, 'Germany is investing massively in its own armed forces.' 'With this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security,' he added. 'Together with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every — every — aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.' Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany's defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by US President Donald Trump. A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Merz said in Lithuania that those figures 'seem sensible to us, they also seem reachable — at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. 'We stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole — and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the US,' he said.
The Guardian
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Germany bolsters anti-Russian defence on Nato eastern flank
The Germany chancellor has visited Lithuania to mark Berlin's first permanent foreign troop deployment since the second world war, as he called on allies to dramatically expand their efforts to bolster European defences against a hostile Russia. As a crowd waved Lithuanian, German and Ukrainian flags, Friedrich Merz and his defence minister, Boris Pistorius, attended a ceremony launching the official formation of an armoured brigade aimed at protecting Nato's eastern flank. The new heavy combat unit, the 45th tank brigade, will be comprised of 4,800 German soldiers and 200 civilian staff. It was announced in response to Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 and is scheduled to reach full operational capacity by 2027. Merz said: 'Together with our partners, we are determined to defend the alliance territory against any aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.' The deployment, unprecedented for the Bundeswehr, is aimed at shoring up the defence of Lithuania and fellow Baltic republics Estonia and Latvia, former Soviet states that have become Nato and EU members and which fear a Russian attack. At a news conference in Vilnius with Lithuania's president, Gitanas Nausėda, Merz said 'Russia's aggressive revisionism' seeking to redraw the European map created grave security risks for the entire continent, not just Ukraine. Merz, the first chancellor to have himself served in the Bundeswehr, said: 'We stand firmly by Ukraine but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole and we play, whenever possible, as a team with the US.' In the build-up to a Nato summit next month in The Hague, Merz said the alliance must 'sustainably strengthen European defence capabilities and our defence industry must expand its capabilities – it has to produce more for Europe and produce more in Europe'. Nausėda thanked Merz for Germany's show of support with the new combat unit formed at the request of Lithuania, which with its 2.9 million inhabitants borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus. He said: 'We understand the threat and believe that we can face up to the threat with our allies,' noting that Lithuania planned to reach a new Nato goal of spending 5% of gross domestic product on defence by next year. Merz said Germany, as Europe's biggest economy, would reach the same benchmark by 2032 based on a calculation of 3.5% of GDP for military procurement and 1.5% for infrastructure of military relevance including roads, bridges and ports. Merz's muscular rhetoric has been welcomed by European partners as a continuation and expansion of the Zeitenwende (turning point) in defence policy set out by his predecessor Olaf Scholz. While Scholz's centre-left-led government created a €100bn (£84bn) special fund to buy defence equipment and eventually met a Nato commitment of defence spending of 2% of GDP, Merz has moved to release the constitutional debt brake to allow far more military investment. In his first significant speech to parliament last week, Merz vowed after years of neglect to build up Europe's 'strongest conventional army'. Germany has no nuclear weapons of its own. The German chancellor said: 'This is appropriate for Europe's most populous and economically powerful country. Our friends and partners also expect this from us. Indeed, they practically demand it.' Sign up to Headlines US Get the most important US headlines and highlights emailed direct to you every morning after newsletter promotion Pistorius, who was also defence minister under Scholz, pledged when the new government took over this month that Germany would be 'ready to defend every square inch of Nato territory' and called the Lithuania brigade 'a clear signal to any potential adversary'. Donald Trump has strong-armed fellow Nato members to boost military spending, often singling out Germany in his accusations of European 'freeloading' at Washington's expense. The US president has also troubled European allies with conflicting messages on his stance toward Ukraine's defence, while raising fears about the US commitment to Nato's mutual defence clause. Asked about reports Trump could order a draw-down from the continent, Merz said on Thursday he had 'no indication that the US would withdraw troops from Europe'. The commitment to Baltic security has posed several challenges for Germany, including finding enough personnel willing to serve there. In January, the Bundestag passed legislation to make the prospect more attractive, including more flexible working hours and increased allowances and overtime pay. Before Merz's visit, Lithuania's defence minister, Dovilė Šakalienė, told Germany's Frankfurter Allgemeine newspaper how crucial plausible deterrence toward Russia was, sharing Pistorius's assessment that Russia could be in a position to attack a Nato state within five years. She said: 'Every Lithuanian knows: if the Russians come, no one will be spared.'
The Independent
22-05-2025
- Politics
- The Independent
Germany's Merz inaugurates a historic new brigade in Lithuania and pushes for security spending
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that 'the security of our Baltic allies is also our security' as he traveled to NATO partner Lithuania Thursday to inaugurate a German brigade meant to protect the alliance's eastern flank in the face of mounting worries about Russia. He said Berlin 's strengthening of its own military sends a signal to its allies. The stationing in Lithuania marks the first time that German troops are being based outside their home country on a long-term basis since World War II. 'This is a historic day,' Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausėda said after meeting Merz. 'This is a day of trust, responsibility and action.' German brigade to be at full strength in 2027 Germany has had troops in Lithuania — which borders Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Moscow-allied Belarus — since 2017, as part of efforts to secure NATO's eastern fringe, but the new brigade deepens its engagement significantly. An advance party started work on setting it up just over a year ago and expanded into an 'activation staff' of about 250 people last fall. After Germany's 45 Armored Brigade is inaugurated in a ceremony on Vilnius ' central cathedral square Thursday, it is expected to be up to its full strength of about 5,000 by the end of 2027, with troops stationed at Rukla and Rudninkai. The deployment in Lithuania has been taking shape as Germany works to strengthen its military overall after years of neglect as NATO members scramble to increase defense spending, spurred by worries about further potential Russian aggression and pressure from Washington. Beefing up the Bundeswehr Merz said that, beyond the new brigade, 'Germany is investing massively in its own armed forces.' 'With this, we also want to send a signal to our allies: let us now invest with determination in our own security,' he added. 'Together with our partners, we are determined to defend alliance territory against every — every — aggression. The security of our Baltic allies is also our security.' Shortly after Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, then-Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase Germany's defense spending to the current NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and announced the creation of a 100 billion-euro ($113-billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr. Germany met that target thanks to the fund, but it will be used up in 2027. Even before it took office earlier this month, the new governing coalition pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz, the first chancellor to have served in the Bundeswehr himself, told parliament last week that 'the government will in the future provide all the financing the Bundeswehr needs to become the strongest conventional army in Europe.' Lithuania to spend more than 5% on defense Host Lithuania said in January that it would raise its defense spending to between 5% and 6% of GDP starting next year, from a bit over 3%. That made it the first NATO nation to vow to reach a 5% goal called for by U.S. President Donald Trump. A plan is in the works for all allies to aim to spend 3.5% of GDP on their defense budgets by 2032, plus an extra 1.5% on potentially defense-related things like infrastructure — roads, bridges, airports and seaports. Merz said in Lithuania that those figures 'seem sensible to us, they also seem reachable — at least in the time span until 2032 that has been stipulated.' German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said earlier this week that the plan is to increase defense spending by 0.2 percentage points each year for five to seven years. Merz has plunged into diplomatic efforts to bring about a ceasefire in Ukraine since taking office earlier this month. 'We stand firmly by Ukraine, but we also stand together as Europeans as a whole — and, whenever possible, we play in a team with the U.S.,' he said.
