Germany will transfer Patriot batteries from Slovakia to Lithuania to help secure the NATO summit in Vilnius in July.
Germany will provide land, air and sea equipment to protect the July 11-12 NATO summit in Vilnius, Lithuania, the German Ministry of Defense announced on May 26. They said they would deploy units that are stationed on NATO’s eastern flank or could operate from Germany.
The German Ministry of Defense has said that it will move the Patriot complex stationed in Slovakia to Lithuania and spare parts will also be sent from Poland to this country.
The German military is committed to continuing to assist Slovakia in protecting its airspace. Germany has deployed Patriot batteries on its territory since Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine in February 2022.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz speaks at a press conference in Tallinn, capital of Estonia, on May 26. Photo: AFP
On 26 May, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz affirmed his determination to protect the Baltic countries when he visited Estonia.
“We are ready to defend every inch of NATO territory against attack,” German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said during a meeting with his Estonian, Latvian and Lithuanian counterparts in Tallinn.
Air defense capabilities of the US Patriot missile complex. Click on the image to see details. Graphics: Raytheon, RIA Novosti
The Patriot is an anti-aircraft missile developed by the United States and has been in service with the US armed forces since 1981. The Patriot PAC-2 variant can reach targets over 96 km away and fly at over 32,000 meters, according to the Defense Agency. American missile.
The newest variant of the Patriot family is the PAC-3, capable of destroying aerial threats such as fighter jets, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), cruise missiles and ballistic missiles.
In April, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced that Ukrainian President Zelensky had accepted an invitation to attend the alliance’s July summit in Lithuania. Swedish Foreign Minister Tobias Billstrom on May 26 expressed hope that Sweden could join NATO when the bloc holds the meeting.
Location of NATO member countries and countries that are/want to join the alliance. Graphics: Tien Thanh.
Duc Trung (according to AP, DPA)
