On Monday, Germany began deploying troops to Lithuania, where they will be stationed permanently, marking the first deployment of its kind for the German military since World War II.
Only two dozen German soldiers have arrived in Lithuania so far, and the force will increase to 4,800 by 2027. Germany already leads a NATO deployment in Lithuania with 1,000 troops, but the new force will be permanent.
“This is the first time that we have permanently stationed such a unit outside of Germany,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said at a farewell ceremony in Berlin, according to The Associated Press. He said the deployment was “an important day for the German army.”
Lithuania shares a border with Kaliningrad, the Russian Oblast on the Baltic Sea that’s separated from the Russian mainland. The country also borders Belarus, a treaty ally of Russia that now hosts Russian nuclear weapons.
Hellbound and Down 