During his visit to Lithuania, Olaf Scholz sent a threefold message with unusual clarity – to his own soldiers, to the Baltic states and to Putin. It is obvious that our chancellor now wants to take over leadership in NATO.
If you drive around 100 kilometers north-east from the capital of Lithuania, Vilnius, you will come across a long forest path to a huge wasteland near the small town of Pabrade. There, behind a row of large Bundeswehr tents and a barbed wire fence, are the tanks that the Ukrainian army is currently hoping for: the Marder or the Leopard II. It is a training ground for German soldiers in Lithuania. Around 1,000 of them are stationed in a camp in Pabrade. And in the future there will be even more.
This is what Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced on Tuesday. In the future, NATO wants to strengthen its eastern flank and in all probability even expand it to include Finland and Sweden. Scholz met the Baltic heads of government in the Lithuanian capital Vilnius this morning to discuss the details. He then went to visit the German troops. With a broad grin on his face, the Chancellor marched across the sandy ground and greeted the soldiers. A few days ago, the Bundestag approved the special fund for the Bundeswehr. Scholz finally has something to offer.
And he insisted on sending a threefold message during his visit to the Baltic States, right on Putin’s doorstep, so to speak:
In concrete terms, this means that Scholz wants to send several hundred additional German soldiers to Lithuania to protect against a possible Russian attack. On Tuesday he promised Lithuanian President Gitanas Nauseda a combat brigade under German leadership, half of which would be stationed in Germany and half in Lithuania. And he became clearer than ever: “We will defend every inch of NATO territory together with our allies if they are attacked”.
A battalion with currently 1,600 soldiers has been stationed in Lithuania since 2017, more than 1,000 of whom belong to the Bundeswehr. In the course of the Ukraine crisis, it was increased by 1,200 soldiers.
The NATO troops are now to be expanded into a combat brigade with heavy military equipment. According to information from German government circles, a total of 3,000 German soldiers will belong to it in the future. About 1,500 of them are to be stationed in Lithuania, including the command of the brigade. The other 1,500 will be based in Germany but dedicated to reinforcing the eastern flank.
The direct link between the two locations “increases the operational capability enormously,” said Scholz. If necessary, other nations should also participate in the brigade. The NATO troops in Lithuania are currently being provided by Germany and seven other European countries. Scholz coordinated his offer with Nauseda on Tuesday, and at the end of the month NATO will finally decide on increasing its troops in the entire Baltic region at its summit in Madrid.
The last “assistance initiative” was decided at a summit in Warsaw in 2016 after Poland and the Baltic states felt threatened. So far, the message from the NATO defense alliance to Russia has been: preparedness, but no threat on Russia’s doorstep.
Scholz and his international partners want to expand this understanding these days. The signal is now – and that became clearer than ever this Tuesday in Lithuania: no threat, but consideration for Russian security interests on the north-eastern flank is now over.
Scholz, who has repeatedly been criticized in recent weeks for his hesitancy and reticence, especially when it comes to arms deliveries, now wants to demonstrate leadership within the alliance. This was well received by the German troops in Lithuania. Many of them support the federal government’s military support and the chancellor’s special visit. Nevertheless, even in these ranks one hears under the hand that leadership requires more than just nice words. After all, arms deliveries to Ukraine had been a long time coming.
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