Germany is going to deploy 4,000 soldiers in Lithuania to guarantee the security of that part of the territory of the Atlantic Alliance that borders Russia, the German Defense Minister announced on Monday.
“Germany is ready to establish a robust contingent,” Boris Pistorius announced during a visit to Vilnius, the capital of Lithuania, which will host the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) summit in early July.
The objective of sending four thousand soldiers to this country, which borders Kaliningrad, a Russian territory on the border between Lithuania and Poland, is to reinforce NATO’s presence on the eastern flank of the Atlantic Alliance.
Germany already has a contingent of a thousand soldiers prepared to defend Lithuania. The decision announced this Monday came in response to an appeal from Vilnius, which fears a future attack from that Russian enclave.
The decision has no immediate effect, the German official explained, as the infrastructure to house the soldiers still needs to be built.
Pistorius drew a parallel between Lithuania today and Berlin during the Cold War period. The country on the eastern flank of the political-military alliance, as well as others in the same region, are in the opinion of the German Defense Minister the current “Iron Curtain”.
“[No passado] we have always counted on NATO partners,” he added.
Source: TSF
