Germany sending more troops to NATO’s eastern flank – defence minister.
Lithuania: Germany could send more troops to Lithuania and other countries on NATO’s eastern flank after Russia officially recognized the two regions of Ukraine as their own.
German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said that more troops could be sent on Tuesday.
In a joint news conference with her Lithuanian counterpart, Lambrecht said that “it is clear that we need to use more strict deterrence measures.”
This is what she said:
“People should know that we’ll spend more troops, land, and air. Then, when there is a crisis, we will send more troops and show that we are together with our partners and they can trust us.”
If Germany needs more troops, Lambrecht says, the country will make decisions soon. It wouldn’t just happen in Lithuania.
“In this conversation, we are talking about everything on the eastern side of NATO. We are watching all of this, and we need to make sure that the eastern flank is safe. We are now looking into what more steps we should take.”
About half of the 1,100-strong NATO battle group in Lithuania consists of troops from Germany, Belgium, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, and Norway.
Some 360 German soldiers will join the battlegroup as of Tuesday, and Norway said it would add 50-60 more soldiers.
Lambrecht said on Tuesday that possible more reinforcements could come on top of that.
Britain is adding 800 troops to the British-led NATO battle group in Estonia.
Eric is a professional news editor, writer, and blogger for the last 10 years. He is working with NewsGater as an off-beat news editor cum writer.