Germany has begun its first permanent military deployment in another country, on NATO's eastern flank in Lithuania. The new German chancellor Friedrich Merz reviewed troops on parade in the capital Vilnius. The 5,000-strong armored brigade aims to deter potential Russian aggression in the Baltics.
00:00A new era for the German military. That's how Chancellor Merz termed today's ceremonies in Vilnius.
00:07The Bundeswehr is building up a permanent brigade in Lithuania to help protect NATO's eastern members.
00:14At a parade on Cathedral Square in the capital, around 800 German soldiers were welcomed by Lithuania's president.
00:23The station of the German 45th Armored Brigade here in Lithuania is an invaluable contribution to the defence of NATO's entire eastern flag.
00:37Never before have so many Bundeswehr troops been stationed abroad in one country.
00:43By 2027, there are to be 5,000 soldiers in Germany's Lithuania Brigade.
00:49Their headquarters will be built near the Belarusian border. Merz reminded them what their mission is.
00:55We are taking the defence of NATO's eastern flank into our own ends.
01:03It is right here where we Lithuanians and Germans together show that we are ready to descend Europe's freedom against any aggressor.
01:21The appearance of German troops in a place where Nazi forces committed atrocities less than a century ago shows how far Europe has changed, not least in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine.
01:35This gathering is a sign of our solidarity and our friendship, for which I am all the more grateful in view of the suffering that National Socialist Germany brought to this country.
01:54Lithuanians have long known what it means to live as neighbours of a belligerent Russia.
02:00The hope is that the growing and increasingly prepared German military presence will help them feel safer.
