In her welcome speech, the President underlined that a step of historic importance was made today. The NATO enhanced forward presence in Lithuania demonstrated the solidarity of all allies and ensured security for the Lithuanian people and the entire region.
The decision to deploy four multinational battalions to the Baltic states and Poland was taken at the NATO summit in Warsaw last July in response to the military threat posed by Russia. It is one of NATO’s deterrence measures aimed at preventing any kind of possible aggression.
Germany has taken the lead of the multinational battalion in Lithuania. The President thanked German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen for her country’s exceptional role and leadership in safeguarding the security of Lithuania, the region and Europe.
The multinational battalion will be stationed at the Lithuanian Great Hetman Jonušas Radvila Training Regiment in Rukla. It will be assigned to the mechanized infantry brigade Iron Wolf, Lithuanian Armed Forces. 650 Bundeswehr soldiers will be part of NATO’s enhanced forward presence in Lithuania. 100 military personnel from Belgium have already arrived in Rukla. By July, the multinational battalion will be joined by 250 troops from the Netherlands, 200 from Norway and 30 from Luxembourg. France and Croatia will contribute their forces next year.
Allied battalions will be also deployed to other countries of the region. High-readiness multinational units will arrive in Poland in March, in Estonia in April and Latvia in June. They will be led by the United States, the United Kingdom and Canada respectively.
4000 troops and equipment from the United States have been stationed in Poland on a bilateral basis to rotate in the three Baltic states.
