Germany to permanently station 4,000 troops in Lithuania to strengthen NATO's eastern flank.

Germany plans to permanently station 4,000 troops in Lithuania to help secure NATO's eastern flank, with Defense Minister Boris Pistorius citing the country's past experience on NATO's eastern frontier. Germany already leads NATO's battlegroup in Lithuania, and pledged in June 2022 to have a full brigade ready to defend Lithuania in case of an attack. The move comes ahead of next month's NATO summit in Vilnius, where Lithuania's president has warned of the instability of the Kremlin regime and the potential threat posed by the Wagner group in Belarus.