Welt am Sonntag: Bundeswehr could not assemble a brigade to deploy in Lithuania

The Bundeswehr (the Armed Forces of Germany) faced serious difficulties in recruiting personnel for its brigade in Lithuania, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported, citing internal documents.

The publication writes that the documents use traffic light colors to indicate the readiness of the brigade units. So, the orange color indicates insufficient staffing, red — staffing at the limit of what is acceptable.

"Of the ten units and units for which it is necessary to recruit personnel, four were at an insufficient level, and three were in the border zone," the publication says.

In particular, according to the documents, some units of the brigade as of June were staffed by less than 30%. A number of other parts are less than 50%. In the communication units, which, according to the publication, are extremely necessary for the brigade, there is also a negative trend: for them, the personnel is recruited by only 40%.

The documents say that a particular difficulty is the recruitment of privates and non-commissioned officers with a special profile. According to the papers, the recruitment methods used by the Bundeswehr demonstrate some effectiveness, but the need for personnel cannot be met with the help of volunteers.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in early July that the German authorities could forcibly call up about a thousand people to man the brigade in Lithuania. It is planned that by the end of 2027, about five thousand German troops will be stationed in Lithuania.