Lithuanian defmin, German govt rep discuss development of military infrastructure

VILNIUS – Lithuanian Minister of National Defense Arvydas Anusauskas met with Thomas Hitschler, parliamentary state secretary in Germany's Federal Ministry of Defense, in Vilnius and discussed the development of infrastructure in Lithuania.

The two politicians also discussed the existing security situation, key bilateral cooperation issues, Lithuania's increasing allied support as a host country, and preparations for the upcoming NATO summit to be held in Vilnius in July, the Ministry of National Defense said on Monday.

Lithuania is developing infrastructure to host more allied troops. The country is seeking deployment of a permanently rotated German brigade. That, however, was not directly mentioned in the statement. 

During the meeting, Anusauskas thanked Germany for its leadership in the region, including its command of the NATO enhanced Forward Presence Battlegroup in Rukla, deployed in Lithuania in 2017.

During the visit, Hitschler also visited German troops serving within the battlegroup. There are currently about 1,000 German troops deployed in Lithuanian, serving within the group of a total of around 1,600 troops.