German tanks scare off Russia from Lithuania

Some dozens of units of the German military equipment, including 20 Marder infantry fighting vehicles and 6 Leopard 2 tanks, have arrived in Lithuania. Equipment as well as 450 more soldiers of the Bundeswehr are to be deployed just 140km away from the Russian border. 'The build-up of German forces thus has been finished and next week we may get down to drills,' Torsten Stefan, representative of the Bundeswehr, claimed.

The mission of German forces is meant for reinforcement of the NATO's eastern flank, which was agreed by the Alliance in summer 2016. Under this initiative, four NATO battalions will be deployed in Poland, Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania.

The Austrian media has also pointed out 'importance' of this event. According to them, 'a historical troops movement took place on Friday. German tanks have been deployed at the Russian border for the first time since the end of the WWII'.

However, the Der Spiegel journalist Jakob Augstein expresses concern over attempts of such 'intimidation' of Russia and revival of the Cold War lexicon. Thus, the Bundeswehr is going to scare off Russia in the Baltic States, the German authorities intend to increase expenditure on defence, while popular media wonder whether Germany will have its own nuclear bomb.

Pravda.Ru