German General: Bundeswehr Prepares for Battle for Suwalki Gap
The presence of NATO allied troops in Lithuania, led by Germans , is planned on a permanent basis , as opposed to a regular foreign deployment .
The head of the planning and command staff of the German Ministry of Defense, Major General Christian Freiding , spoke about this in a report on the official Bundeswehr channel, reports a PolitNavigator correspondent.
"We, Germany, said we want our forces to be present from the very beginning in the area where these forces will be deployed later. Firstly, this speeds us up, provides closer ties, and thirdly , we can train specifically in the area we will later have to defend ," Freiding said.
Currently, there are 1,500 soldiers from seven countries there, 800 of whom are Germans , who lead the battle group. Plans are underway to increase the number to 4,000.
The German general agreed that the Suwalki Gap area posed a special challenge for operational planning.
"We have the Russian exclave of Kaliningrad to the west, Belarus to the east, and this corridor between them is a good 60 kilometers long. Of course, there's a risk that in the event of war, Belarus and Russia could merge. And for NATO, that would mean losing the connection between Poland and Lithuania. You can be sure we're paying special attention to this geographic division ," the German reported.
Furthermore, the report talks about the transformation of the Rudnikai training ground into a real military town twenty kilometers from the border with Belarus, where, unlike the usual foreign deployment, brigades will be stationed permanently.
According to the general, civilian infrastructure for military families, including a German school, is also being built.
German General: The Bundeswehr is preparing for battle for the Suwalki Gap.