The Bundestag, Germany’s federal parliament, has approved the Lithuanian-German defense cooperation agreement laid out in a Roadmap Action Plan signed in December 2023. The Lithuanian legislature, Seimas, ratified it in October 2024.
According to Lithuania’s Ministry of National Defence, Germany will deploy signal, headquarters and service companies, as well as medical and logistical units, in the country starting in 2025 and temporarily house them in Nemencine and Rokantiskes. A full German brigade contingent is expected in Lithuania by 2027.
German Troops in Lithuania
The agreement defines the rules for the German brigades’ use of their assigned military areas, access to Lithuania’s military infrastructures, arrival and departure, mobility within the country, and security protocols. The agreement provides other regulations covering the legal status of the Germans in Lithuania, including military personnel, civil servants and their families.
The pact also defines opportunities for German troops and civilian personnel to access Lithuanian healthcare services and permits establishing German military training institutions for Lithuanian troops.
Rheinmetall recently demonstrated the two countries’ military partnership in communication transmission tests between Germany’s Army Combat Training Center in Letzlingen/Altmark and Bundeswehr troops stationed in Lithuania. The company has also formed a joint venture with Lithuanian partners to establish ammunition manufacturing capability in the Baltic state.