German Chancellor Friedrich Merz declared that “the security of our Baltic allies is also our security” as he traveled to NATO partner Lithuania Thursday to inaugurate a German brigade meant to protect the alliance's eastern flank in the face of mounting worries about Russia.

Germany and its NATO partners are prepared to defend every inch of the alliance's territory, Chancellor Friedrich Merz said on Thursday at a military ceremony in Vilnius to mark the establishment of a German brigade in Lithuania.

VILNIUS – Germany has inaugurated its first permanent foreign military deployment in Lithuania since World War II, with Chancellor Friedrich Merz calling it “the beginning of a new era."