One of the Bundeswehr's most ambitious projects is taking shape: The deployment of almost 5,000 German soldiers in Lithuania. On April 1, the new "Panzerbrigade 45" or Armored Brigade 45 was officially put into service in the capital Vilnius. It forms the core of the combat unit with which Germany hopes to secure NATO's eastern flank at the request of Lithuania, in response to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

While the German army previously consisted of eight brigades, a ninth is now being added, the one in Lithuania. It is to remain there permanently — a first in the history of the Bundeswehr. As a symbol of solidarity, the emblem of the Panzerbrigade 45, which the soldiers wear on their uniforms, also includes a Vilnius landmark, the Gediminas Tower.

"Germany will be ready to defend every square inch of NATO territory," German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius vowed in his first speech to the........

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