Germany deployed its permanent military brigade this week across the border for the first time since the end of World War II.
The historic force sent to the Lithuanian capital, Villinias, was launched on Thursday by German Prime Minister Friedrich Merz.
The groundbreaking German military decision is perhaps most important in a steady stream of movement by European countries to strengthen NATO’s east side amid the persistent security threat from the claim that Europe will both protect itself and pay for its defenses.
It’s also coming despite ongoing efforts by the Trump administration to end the Kremlin’s three-year war in Ukraine.
Among Ukraine’s European allies, the three Baltic countries, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia, are associated only with NATO’s main territory by narrow corridors that extend between Russia and the solid alliance known as the Swarki Gap, but are perhaps the most vulnerable to expanded Russian attacks.
On Thursday, Mertz said since the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, “Russia’s aggressive revisionism” could try to redraw the wider map of Europe as well as the map of Ukraine.
Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausda, standing side by side with Mertz, added that Russia and Belarus have already begun to launch military exercises at their own borders.
The new German brigade, located on the eastern flank of NATO, will consist of heavy combat units of 2,000 vehicles, including around 4,800 soldiers, hundreds of civilian staff and tanks. Headquartered in Rudinkai near Vilnius, it is expected to work perfectly by the end of 2027.
“Anyone who threatens an alliance must know that the entire alliance will jointly defend every inch of NATO territory,” Meltz said.
Trump has pressured US NATO allies to increase military spending, with Germany and other European countries previously denounced the “free road” at Washington’s expense, and even implementing a temporary suspension on military aid to Ukraine in March this year.
It also shows the transition from the US guarantee of European security against Russia, which has brought us hard and soft power since World War II to the entire continent and beyond.
After his central right Christian Democratic Union Party won the German election in February, Meltz said his “absolute priorities” were “to strengthen Europe as quickly as possible, so in stages we can truly achieve independence from the United States.”
Along Germany, other European frontline countries began to increase their spending to strengthen the border between Russia and Belarus. Earlier this month, Lithuania announced it would spend around $1.2 billion on its military, increasing it to 6% of its total annual production.
Meanwhile, neighbouring Poland recently allocated another $2.6 billion to the sector, raising it to 4.7% of GDP this year.
Trump still had a fluteless phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Monday despite several bilateral negotiations with diplomats from Russia and Ukraine.
Meanwhile, Putin said in a video conference with Russian government officials that his troops have begun creating a “security buffer zone” along the border with Ukraine.
Putin’s latest move reportedly threatened during direct negotiations to seize the Ukrainian cities of Kalkiv and Smie during direct negotiations last week if Ukraine did not agree to the Kremlin’s demands based on surrender from Kiev.
This week, the Washington-based think tank, the War Institute, described the threat in its report as a warning sign from Russia.
“This tactic suggests that if Russia agrees to the prerequisites for a Russian ceasefire, Russia will make additional, more extreme territorial demands during the end of the war talks.”