Germany to send 4,000 to Lithuania after Wagner relocation to Belarus

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
26 Jun 2023 14:53

This comes after the Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausada issued the call for NATO to bolster its eastern flank.

Screengrab of a video released by the German Department of Defense today showing Defense Minister Boris Pistorius making the announcement (German MoD)

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Monday announced that Germany is preparing to send 4,000 troops to Lithuania as part of efforts to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.

"Germany is ready to permanently station a robust brigade in Lithuania," Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said on a visit to Vilnius, conditioned on the "necessary infrastructure" and "compatibility with NATO plans".

🇩🇪 ist bereit, eine robuste Brigade dauerhaft in #Litauen zu stationieren. Voraussetzung sind eine entsprechende Infrastruktur, zum Beispiel Kasernen, und eine flexible Kompatibilität mit der #NATO-Planung, so Minister #Pistorius in seinem Statement. pic.twitter.com/kpI07nzLVp
— Verteidigungsministerium (@BMVg_Bundeswehr) June 26, 2023

This comes after Lithuanian President Gitanas Nausada issued the call for NATO to bolster its eastern flank after news broke out that the head of Wagner PMC, Yevgeny Prigozhin, is moving to Belarus.

"If Prigozhin or part of the Wagner group ends up in Belarus with unclear plans and unclear intentions, it will only mean that we need to further strengthen the security of our eastern borders," including "the whole of Nato."

Over the weekend, Russia went through what is possibly the most critical moment of its timeline since the war in Ukraine began, narrowly averting a full-scale civil war after Prigozhin accused the Russian Ministry of Defense of striking a Wagner military camp and vowed revenge.

Last Friday, the Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) opened a criminal case for inciting armed mutiny over statements made on behalf of Prigozhin, The case was dropped after an agreement was reached with the mediation of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko.

The following day, a counter-terrorist operation regime was introduced in the Russian capital of Moscow and the Moscow region in response to the events.

That same day, Prigozhin agreed to de-escalate the situation after he accepted a proposal from Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko to move in exile to neighboring Belarus under guarantees from Putin.