By the end of 2027, around 4,800 German troops are expected to be stationed permanently in Lithuania as part of the 45th Panzer Brigade, on NATO’s eastern flank.
Oh damn, she’s… I forgot the name of the rank, but the stripes are for the non officer soldiers, the usual being 1, 2 and 3.
To get to 5, you have to be good at what you’re doing but reject the officer career path. She’s in it for the love of the game.
Or already that’s how it was, a lot could have changed in 16 years if guess.
Just means you were there for 4 or more years, no implication of actual skill involved. Just like being a manager (almost any position really, but hey) does not implicate skill.
Russia won’t invade Lithuania. It’s too busy fighting in Ukraine.
A little side action to force concessions? Same reason as to why Ukrainians took the Kursk gamble.
That would be stupid. Lithuania is a NATO member. An attack on Lithuania would mean war with NATO. NATO could attack Russia through Ukraine.
Why not? All they need to do is make people frightened and stop supporting Ukraine. There are already plenty assholes that want to stop supporting them.
Instead of being frightened, Europeans would see that Russia is a danger and they must fight.
I wouldn’t be SMART for Russia to invade Lithuania, but unfortunately the prevailing theme of the 2020s has been that world leaders don’t always make the smart decision.
Correct, just like Japan bombing Pearl Harbor. However, it would be better for Germany to aid Ukraine more rather than spend money on sending troops to Lithuania. Give Ukraine more Leopard 2s.
This is serving a different purpose than that. The idea of this is that IF Russia were to do something in Lithuania, the presence of German soldiers means that the German public is more invested. “Our people were hurt” is generally more resonant than “a small country way east of us was attacked”. Their very presence limits Russia’s options for what they can do in Lithuania without provoking a harsher and more united German response. There is apparently intelligence that an attack on Lithuania is likely so it’s in the EU’s interests to deter such a strike before it even happens. As Lithuania is an EU member its safety as an EU member likely ranks above Ukraine which is not one in EU priorities. Besides which, tanks are not being used as heavily as earlier due to the hostile drone environment on the front lines anyway.
edit: bad choice of words to say “our men” rather than “our people” lol