On February 14, German troops arrived in Lithuania, reinforcing the NATO Enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battlegroup in the country. This week, the German Defence Ministry is sending additional troops to Lithuania in response to Russia’s military build-up on the border with Ukraine and the worsening security situation in the Baltic states, according to a press release by the Lithuanian Ministry of Defence. Lieutenant Colonel Daniel Andra, commander of the multi-national eFP battalion in Lithuania, said he expects about 350 troops and about a hundred additional vehicles to complement the Forward Presence Battle Group.
About 100 troops arrived on February 14 and others will join the battalion in the coming days, according to the commander. There is as much space at the Rukla military base as is needed to accommodate more than 500 or 600 additional troops.
Germany leads the 1,200-strong eFP battlegroup in Lithuania and currently has about 500 soldiers stationed there. The NATO eFP battlegroup was deployed in Lithuania in 2017 and has operated on a rotational basis since then. BNS/LRT.lt
