Germany is ready to defend every square centimeter of the territory of the Baltic States / Article

Scholz said Germany’s commitment is demonstrated by the Bundeswehr ground units stationed in Lithuania and the German Air Force’s fighter patrols in the airspace of the Baltic states.

“This shows the determination of Germany and NATO to protect the alliance’s territory against any aggression. Our soldiers make an important contribution to this process. Because the security of our Baltic allies is also our security.

Germany is determined to protect every square centimeter of Allied territory, and I will emphasize that here as well. An attack on you would also be an attack on all of us, and that should not happen.

Therefore, we have made many far-reaching decisions and conclusions,” Scholz said.

After noon, the German Chancellor arrived at the Cabinet of Ministers of Latvia, where he was welcomed by Prime Minister Siliņa. During the meeting, the heads of government of all three Baltic states discussed issues related to security, defense and support for Ukraine.

Such meetings have become a tradition, but now they are especially important for Europe’s security in difficult times. In the discussion, in addition to security issues, all parties also discussed cooperation in the economy, regional projects, energy and elsewhere.

Later at the press conference, when asked about Germany’s support for Ukraine and specifically about the sending of long-range missiles “Taurus”, Scholz did not give a clear answer, stating:

“It is important for us that we all take action together to provide support. That is why we also expanded the production of ammunition and in Germany we are working to increase the capacities. We also support the already mentioned Czech initiative in parallel with our own activities to purchase weapons, artillery from outside Europe and ammunition.

It is important for us to speak a clear language about the need to help Ukraine, not to think about economic development in Europe,” said the German Chancellor.

The press conference can be viewed here:

On the other hand, the Prime Minister of Latvia, when asked how we should protect ourselves, taking into account the great support for Ukraine, said: “It is extremely important for our military industry to strengthen not only support for Ukraine, which is currently the first priority, but we must, of course, also strengthen the common European security space and must strengthen ourselves. Because Latvia and, I believe, the Baltic countries have given up a lot of their military capabilities, one could almost say, to Ukraine. And it is clear that we have to think like us we can fill up our warehouses and strengthen ourselves, and in general raise our defense capabilities to another level in Europe,” said Siliņa.

But even before his visit to Riga, Scholz visited the German soldiers based in Lithuania and confirmed there that Germany is always ready to defend the security of the Baltics.

“Germany stands unwaveringly on the side of the Baltic states, and there are many reasons for this. It is also very important to make it clear that this is a serious commitment. This means that we protect each other and all countries can count on us to defend every centimeter of NATO territory ,” said the German chancellor.

Scholtz visited Lithuania at a time when Germany is preparing to permanently deploy a Bundeswehr brigade of around 4,800 soldiers to support Lithuania’s security.

This is the first time that post-war Germany would permanently station troops outside its borders. It is expected that German soldiers will start arriving in Lithuania next year.

Scholz also reaffirmed in Lithuania that Germany will continue to support Ukraine.

Until recently, Germany provided Ukraine with new anti-aircraft defense systems and continues to supply other necessary weapons. However, there is still opposition to the supply of long-range missiles “Taurus” to Kyiv. Chancellor Scholz pointed out that in that case the involvement of German soldiers would be necessary, which would be Germany’s involvement in a war with Russia.