Lithuanian president to take initiative to dispel any shadows in Vilnius-Berlin ties

VILNIUS – President Gitanas Nauseda has said he will take the initiative to dispel any shadows of doubt that public discussions on the German brigade's deployment have cast on the bilateral relations. 

"These discussions undoubtedly resonated, including in Germany. I hope that we will have more than one opportunity to eradicate these shadows and to return to normal talk and, most importantly, to work, because there has been enough talk," he told reporters on Tuesday. 

The president does not think that a crisis is brewing in bilateral relations between Lithuania and Germany. 

"It certainly isn't, and I'll do my best to make sure that there's not the slightest doubt about our relationship being a very productive one, based on mutual trust," Nauseda said. "That was what the original document that we signed with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz was about. It was based on unconditional trust between the allies." 

"This document, as you well remember, was signed before the Madrid summit," he added.  

The joint communiqué signed by Nauseda and Scholz in June says that "in addition to the current and reinforced enhanced Forward Presence Battle Group already in place, Germany is ready to lead a robust and combat-ready brigade in Lithuania dedicated to deter and defend against Russian aggression".

Germany has so far only deployed the brigade's forward command element to Lithuania.

Vilnius wants a full German brigade to be permanently deployed in the country. Berlin officials, however, have said on numerous occasions that part of the brigade will be deployed in Lithuania and the rest will stay at home but will be ready to redeploy quickly if necessary.

This has sparked discussions in Lithuania about Germany's commitment to deploy a brigade-sized unit in the country.