FLASH
Shkruar nga Pamfleti
Russia's invasion of Ukraine is prompting Germany to do something unprecedented — to permanently base thousands of troops just 100 kilometers from the border with Russia and right in the line of fire if the Kremlin ever launches an attack on NATO territory, writes Politico.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius was in Vilnius on Monday to sign an agreement with his Lithuanian counterpart Arvydas Anušauskas to strengthen the terms under which 4,800 German troops plus 200 civilians will be stationed in the Baltic country.
"With this combat-ready brigade, we are taking on a leadership responsibility here in the alliance and on NATO's eastern flank," Pistorius said, adding: "The speed of the project clearly shows that Germany understood the new security reality."
The war in Ukraine has upended military thinking in Berlin – pressuring generals and politicians to move with unaccustomed speed.
In a sign of the growing demands on the Bundeswehr, one of the units making up the new brigade is Panzerbatallion 203 from Augustdorf in North Rhine-Westphalia, but that armored unit has delivered all its Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine and is waiting for a new time. built replacements.
Pistorius said the order for replacement tanks for the 203rd has been completed and once they are built, they will be shipped directly to Lithuania.
But without an adequate long-term funding plan and without their flagship Leopard 2 combat systems, Lithuania's brigade "will not even be for defence", warned Roderich Kiesewetter, a politician with the opposition Christian Democrats and a retired colonel in the Bundeswehr. with 27 years of service.
"The bottom line is that either the [Leopard 2] recharge has been accelerated" before the deployment, said Aylin Matlé, a fellow at the German Council on Foreign Relations, or Panzerbattalion 203 could be sent to Lithuania "without their main battle system".
There are also concerns about how the deployment fits with Germany's strained public finances.
But despite equipment and money concerns, Berlin is committed to the deployment, which the German government calls a "beacon project," signaling its willingness to protect NATO allies and transform the Bundeswehr into a force "ready for war".
"The eastern flank has now moved to the east and it is Germany's duty to defend it," Pistorius said.
Lini një Përgjigje