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Germany, UK to reinforce NATO's eastern flank

February 22, 2022

The German and British defense ministers announced that they were prepared to send even more troops than planned to NATO units in the Baltic states. Separately, the UK announced military exercises in northern Europe.

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British soldiers in Estonia take part in a NATO military exercise
British soldiers in Estonia take part in a NATO military exerciseImage: NATO

German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said on Tuesday that German troops could be sent to Lithuania and other countries on NATO's eastern flank a day after Russia formally recognized two regions of Ukraine as independent, further igniting fears of violent conflict in the area.

"It is clear that we need to apply stricter deterrence measures," Lambrecht told a joint news conference with her Lithuanian counterpart at the Rukla military base.

"I want to underscore that we are ready to send more troops, land and air. We are ready to send more troops also to Lithuania and signal that we are together with partners and we are a trustworthy partner in a crisis," she said.

German soldiers comprise about half of a 1,100-strong NATO battle group in Lithuania that includes troops from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway.

Lambrecht said that these proposed reinforcements could come on top of a contingent of some 360 extra German soldiers already en route to Lithuania on Tuesday. 

Norway also announced that it was adding 50-60 soldiers to the group.

British soldiers mobilized

Separately, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said 800 British soldiers were being added to the NATO battlegroup in Estonia, and that more could be sent "to help protect allies if NATO makes a request."

British Defense Minister Ben Wallace then announced that a separate group, the Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF), which includes the UK, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Iceland, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands, Norway and Sweden, would soon be engaging in military exercises "in northern Europe."

UK and Baltic states' troops will participate in "preventative and proportionate" exercises "at sea, on land, and in the air."

The expected reinforcements will drastically increase the amount of NATO troops in Latvia, Lithuania, and Estonia, to about 6,000.

NATO had set up four multinational battlegroups of just over 1,000 troops each in Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland in 2017 after Russia annexed the Crimea region from Ukraine. 

es/nm (Reuters, AFP, dpa)