Germany Sends First Soldiers for Permanent Lithuania Force

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius described the start of a German brigade in Lithuania as a key step to improve the deployment capability of NATO forces and "an important day for the Bundeswehr."

"This is the first time that we have permanently stationed such a unit outside Germany," Pistorius said on Monday in Berlin at a farewell ceremony for the preliminary command of the Lithuania brigade, German news agency (dpa) reported.