Lithuania's Defence Minister on German Brigade and Hybrid War Threat on NATO's Eastern Flank
In a Politico Berlin Playbook podcast, Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas discusses the risk of invasion and the stationing of Germany's Panzerbrigade 45 in Lithuania. Nearly 5,000 German soldiers are to be permanently based there by 2027.
Lithuanian Defence Minister Robertas Kaunas explains how real the danger of a Russian invasion is in the "Security Sunday" episode of Politico Deutschland's Berlin Playbook podcast. The conversation centres on the German army's Panzerbrigade 45, or 45th Armoured Brigade, which is being set up in Lithuania. The episode description calls the location NATO's most vulnerable point, as it lies wedged between Russia's Kaliningrad exclave and Belarus.
A German brigade in Lithuania
According to the programme's makers, the brigade is arguably the most important project of Germany's "Zeitenwende", the term for the turn in German security policy. By 2027, almost 5,000 German soldiers are to be permanently stationed in Lithuania.
Signs of hybrid war
The description says the threat from Russia is no longer merely theoretical. Drones, disinformation and burning infrastructure show, it says, that hybrid war has already reached Lithuania. Hybrid war is a form of pressure that combines military and non-military means.
What the episode covers
The episode looks at how the Baltic states are preparing and what Europe would have to do if the United States ceased to act as a protecting power. The makers stress that deterrence on NATO's eastern flank helps decide the fate of the continent, and that security in Vilnius ultimately means security in Berlin.
Politico Deutschland publishes the Berlin Playbook podcast every morning from 5 a.m. It is produced by Rixa Fürsen, Maximilian Stascheit and the Politico team.
