During a visit to Estonia, Chancellor Olaf Scholz reaffirmed Germany's commitment to defending the Baltic NATO allies of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania in the event of an attack.
At the same time, Scholz on Friday left open exactly how many German soldiers would be stationed in Lithuania. Germany has promised to deploy a brigade of between 3,000 and 5,000 troops to help protect the country.
The brigade remains based in Germany, with only a single command post in the country manned by about 20 soldiers.
"The security situation here in the Baltic States, on the eastern flank of NATO, remains delicate," the Social Democrat said at a meeting with the leaders of the three Baltic countries. "To put it bluntly here again: We are ready to defend every square centimetre of NATO territory against attacks."
Scholz said the necessary steps have been taken to prepare for a defence of the countries.
"We are consistently aligning the Bundeswehr with the defence of central and north-eastern Europe," Scholz said, referring to Germany's military.
When asked about Lithuanian expectations that the German brigade would be stationed entirely in the country, Scholz answered evasively.
When it comes to supporting the countries on NATO's eastern border, Germany has "very diverse deployments here in the Baltic States, but not only there."
The German chancellor suggested that infrastructure improvements will soon allow Germany to very rapidly deploy troops to Lithuania. He also emphasized that parts of the German combat brigade would again be sent to Lithuania for an exercise in the coming weeks.
The Bundeswehr's 41st Panzergrenadier Brigade has been assigned to defend Lithuania since autumn 2022 but has only moved the small command post to the country to look after weapons and materiel.
In the event of tensions or a crisis, the Bundeswehr should be possible to immediately transfer the remaining soldiers within ten days.
In addition, 760 other German soldiers assigned to a NATO battle group led by the Bundeswehr are also currently in Lithuania.
