Photo: El Nuevo Diario.

Berlin, Jun 27 (RHC) Germany's Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced his country's plans to deploy some 4,000 military personnel in Lithuania for an extended period, reports Die Zeit.

Pistorius said that "Germany is ready to permanently deploy a strong brigade" in the Baltic country, adding that military family members and uniformed equipment will also be relocated.

In addition, the minister said he had agreed with his Lithuanian counterpart, Arvydas Anusauskas, that the number of troops deployed in the country will increase with the expansion of the necessary infrastructure. At the moment, the date of the full deployment of the military in question is unknown, but it is not "months away," Pistorius stressed.

In this context, Der Spiegel notes that the German military had previously participated in war exercises on Lithuanian territory, but had not stayed permanently in the country. (Source: Russia Today).