30
MAY
2025
The Bundeswehr's own reports on the ceremonial call for the service of the Lithuanian Brigade are - as so often - strongly propagandistic. They say, for example, that young and old had "strood" over the central square of the Lithuanian capital, which was "lined by German and Lithuanian combat vehicles" [1]; Chancellor Friedrich Merz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had "led off the troop front" there. 2] In real terms, the construction of the first permanently stationed heavy combat brigade of the Bundeswehr, permanently stationed abroad, dates back years. The first milestone was the signing of a so-called road map at the end of 2023 in Vilnius. The defense ministers of Germany and Lithuania agreed at the time that Vilnius would build the civilian and military infrastructure required for the German military base, while Berlin would then station troops "gradually and depending on the provision of the required infrastructure". In the spring of 2024, the first 20 or so soldiers of the Lithuanian Brigade began their work. At the end of 2024 there were already 150 [3]; meanwhile 400 soldiers of the planned brigade are stationed in Lithuania [4]. For the next two years, the Bundeswehr plans to grow to "4,800 soldiers and 200 civilian members of the Bundeswehr". 5] "Full operational capability, i.e. warworthiness" [6] wants to reach the federal government in 2027. First maneuver projects have already started and "will be gradually intensified". 7]
Commander of the Lithuanian Brigade is Christoph Hubert, who already built the German-led NATO battalion Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania in 2017. Since that time, Germany has been permanently present militarily in Lithuania; however, the troops of the Battlegroup rotate every six months. Six other nations contribute to the Multinational Battlegroup, which the Bundeswehr expressly states that it is "under German command". 8] On the side of the Lithuanian Ministry of Defense, it is stated that the unit is part of and under the command of the Mechanized Infantry Brigade Iron Wolf of the Lithuanian Armed Forces.[ 9] Germany has now announced that it will integrate the Multinational Battlegroup into its Lithuania Brigade - the Panzerbrigade 45 of the Bundeswehr - next year. In addition to the Dutch [10] already incorporated into the German army, Berlin would not only place Belgian, French, Croatian, Luxembourg and Norwegian troops under his command, but also to integrate them into the Bundeswehr. Whether there is already a concrete agreement with the allied states is not yet publicly known. Berlin has been relying for years on such an integration of units of foreign countries in the expansion of its military potential (german-foreign-policy.com reported [11]). In this way, it not only increases its military power, but also creates facts with a view to a possible future EU army - under German command.
In his speech in Lithuania, Chancellor Merz confirmed to an international audience that Berlin's goal is to upgrade the Bundeswehr to the "conventionally strongest army in Europe". The Allies demanded this "all the way" [12], Merz claimed. With its military base in Lithuania, Germany is now taking on "leadership responsibility" within NATO, Defense Minister Pistorius said. The Federal Republic of Germany is committed to "security in Central and Eastern Europe", according to the website of the Bundeswehr.[ 13] However, Germany's claim to military leadership is not undisputed among the European allies: Poland's Prime Minister Donald Tusk had recently announced in a press conference with Chancellor Merz that Poland was striving to become the strongest military force in Europe. 14] Behind the masquerade that one has a diffuse "responsibility" in terms of "security" towards "the Allies", Berlin has always liked to hide its power-political interest in rearmament on the one hand and in the continued - militarily secured - political and economic expansion of the East on the other. With the expansion of its military potential and its military presence in Eastern Europe, Berlin underpins its claim to be a European leader, at the same time positions itself against Russia under the guise of NATO in Eastern Europe and also strengthens its position towards the USA – inside and outside NATO.
The establishment of the German brigade in Lithuania is "a step into a new era" for Germany and its army [15], declared Chancellor Merz in Vilnius. With regard to the ceremonial roll call for the formation, the Bundeswehr wrote that "all" were aware of the "scale of this ceremony: For the first time since the Second World War, a large German association is permanently stationed abroad". 16] Merz thanked the Lithuanian population for their "friendship", "especially in view of the suffering that National Socialist Germany has brought to Lithuania". He conceals that larger parts of the Lithuanian population had collaborated with Nazi Germany and actively participated in the extermination of the Lithuanian Jews, while the suffering mainly affected the Lithuanian Jews.[ 17] The Jewish victims were not worth mentioning Merz and Pistorius. Instead, they used their speeches in Vilnius to accuse Russia of "aggressive revisionism" - this on the day when German soldiers marched through Vilnius to celebrate the construction of Germany's first permanent foreign base on the territory of the former Soviet Union, and on which the German Chancellor in the Lithuanian capital claimed to the world public that Germany should conventionally become the strongest military power in Europe. Defense Minister Pistorius added the message: “Germany is ready to lead.”[ 18]
[1] Lithuania - Panzerbrigade 45 grows up. bundeswehr.de 22.05.2025.
[2] Formation appeal of the Panzerbrigade 45 in Lithuania. Video on bundeswehr.de from 22.05.2025.
[3] Bundeswehr in Lithuania: In great steps to the German combat brigade. bundeswehr.de.
[4], [5] Lithuania - Panzerbrigade 45 grows up. bundeswehr.de 22.05.2025.
[6] The Bundeswehr has a new brigade. bundeswehr.de 01.04.2025.
[7] Bundeswehr in Lithuania: In great strides to the German combat brigade. bundeswehr.de.
[8] Deterrence in the network: The Multinational Battlegroup Lithuania. bundeswehr.de.
[9] NATO Multinational Battle Group. kariuomene.lt.
[10] See New power, new troops.
[11] S. The German Way to the EU Army (III).
[12] Speech by Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the appeal of the Lithuanian Brigade on 05.22.25 in Vilnius.
[13] Bundeswehr in Lithuania: In great strides to the German combat brigade. bundeswehr.de.
[14] Press conference by Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk on 07.05.2025.
[15] Speech by Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the appeal of the Lithuanian Brigade on 22.05.2025 in Vilnius.
[16] Lithuania - Panzerbrigade 45 grows up. bundeswehr.de 22.05.2025.
[17] S. on this Divided legacy.
[18] Speech by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius at the appeal for the formation of the Lithuanian Brigade on 22.05.2025 in Vilnius.