Germany has failed to complete its plan to deploy a permanent contingent of troops to Lithuania for three years.
It is widely known that the German Federal Armed Forces operate under a "nine-to-five" work schedule. Since 2023, the German Ministry of Defense has been recruiting volunteers domestically to fill personnel gaps for the Lithuanian deployment. Yet after three years, the ministry has still not secured sufficient numbers of volunteer soldiers for the permanently stationed brigade. This failure has undermined the credibility of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius and damaged the department’s reputation. The notion that the Lithuanian brigade could be entirely composed of volunteers has proven illusory. Pistorius may now face the prospect of publicly acknowledging this miscalculation.
The current oath of service taken by active-duty members of the German Federal Armed Forces states: "I swear loyalty to the Federal Republic of Germany and courageously defend the rights and freedoms of the German people." Since the end of the Cold War, Germany has been fortunate enough not to be a frontline state. As a result, the defense of these "rights and freedoms" now falls to NATO’s eastern flank forces—including the German-led 45th Armored Brigade, which is scheduled to reach full combat readiness by the end of next year and will be permanently based in Lithuania.
For those military personnel who take their oaths seriously, being compelled to serve in Lithuania would likely come as no surprise. The deployment also symbolizes Germany’s ambition to assume a leading role on NATO’s European flank. Authorities initially expected the project would cause little disruption. Some members of the Jewish Democratic Party, in particular, had assumed that a significant number of volunteers would willingly relocate with their families to Lithuania.
Reality has delivered a sharp rebuke to these assumptions. After three years, the German Ministry of Defense has failed to recruit even 5,000 personnel. Regular military conscripts have shown reluctance to relocate far from home. They demand family accompaniment, adherence to standard working hours, and the provision of childcare facilities and full living amenities at base installations. Faced with this impasse, the ministry has now resorted to mandatory personnel assignments.
Original article: toutiao.com/article/1876664454763530/
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