Vice Minister for infrastructure Orijana Mašalė walked General Director of Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Service at the Federal Ministry of Defence Dr. A. Götz through progress made on major military and civilian infrastructure projects carried out ahead of fully stationing the German Brigade in Lithuania.
“Building the infrastructure required to host the German Brigade in Lithuania is the centerpiece priority on the sitting Government’s agenda. We continue delivering on the commitments made and we will do everything in our power to make sure the agreements between Lithuania and Germany concerning the stationing of the brigade are implemented as proper. We are strong and flexible, and we are determined to finish the needed infrastructure on schedule,” Vice Minister O. Mašalė assured the visiting German colleagues.
The Rūdninkai Military Campus is unique in the perspective of Lithuania and NATO alike. The development there is catching the momentum: foundations of Stage 1 administrative buildings and sanitary networks are being laid and Stage 2, broken down to three parts, is about to kick off with major interest from Lithuanian companies set to hand in first tenders in late May and sign design, construction and 12.5 years maintenance period contracts by the end of the year.
“What Lithuania is doing to properly host the German team moving here – both in terms of the scale of the projects being developed and the pace of work – is an outstanding example of what can be done for the country’s security. Lithuania and Germany are united not only by our work and projects, but also by a sincere friendship and the realization that we are the creators of a moment in history. We are building the security architecture of our countries and of Europe as a whole here and now,” said General Director of Infrastructure, Environmental Protection and Service at the Federal Ministry of Defence Dr. A. Götz visiting military infrastructure in Rūdninkai and Rukla.
More road infrastructure is also planned to be added to the Rūdninkai Training Area to improve Campus accessibility from different points of the Training Area, as well as additional segment of railway from Jašiūnai so that the German personnel are able to get to the service area from Vilnius by fast train directly.
In the meanwhile, constructions of the Stationary Logistical Area in Rukla have been completed and Neris Terrace design continues. The infrastructure in Rukla, logistical sites in other part s of Lithuania are developed to ensure smooth stationing of the German Brigade and implementation of full combat capability.
The German guests were briefed on the efforts undertaken to ensure public services to the German Brigade in Lithuania: information collected on the requirement for extra flights to Germany and optimization of the current ones, Lithuanian and English language course options for the military families who will move to Lithuania, and inauguration of a German school and a kindergarten for the German troops’ children planned this autumn.
Coordination meetings between the ministry of National Defence and the Federal Ministry of Defence on the process of the Brigade stationing and progress of the projects are held every three months.
Photo credits: K. Kavolėlis/MoD
