VILNIUS, July 29 (Xinhua) -- Germany is ready to step up for European security with the development of its brigade in Lithuania, German Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Lars Klingbeil said in Vilnius on Tuesday.
After talks with his Baltic counterparts in the Lithuanian capital, Klingbeil told a press conference that Germany wants to continue actively strengthening the defense alliance and helping to achieve NATO goals, the Baltic News Service (BNS) reported.
"We'll try to implement this even earlier than agreed," the vice-chancellor said.
The German brigade in Lithuania, announced in 2023 and set to be fully deployed by 2027, sends an "important and unequivocal" message to Lithuania and the Baltic states that Germany will stand by its allies, Klingbeil underlined.
Currently, 500 German troops are stationed in Lithuania, while the full deployment will comprise approximately 5,000 soldiers and civilian personnel.
Klingbeil's visit to Lithuania was one of his first bilateral trips as vice chancellor.
"All three Baltic states are very important partners for Germany and the German government, and we want even closer cooperation with these countries," he stressed.
Meanwhile, Lithuanian Finance Minister Rimantas Sadzius emphasized that the Baltic states and Germany are committed to significantly increasing defense spending.
"Latvia and Estonia are also on this path, and the new German government has also made sweeping decisions for which we are very grateful, because this is a serious step forward in bolstering European security," Sadzius noted.
The ongoing deployment of the German brigade in Lithuania is "a fundamental shift," the finance minister said. Enditem
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