Germany’s Bundeswehr has cut the minimum contract term for soldiers who volunteer to serve with the army’s 45th Armoured Brigade in Lithuania, Brussels Signal has learned.
The move comes amid speculation in German media that the army is finding it increasingly difficult to recruit enough volunteers from their staff in Germany to get the brigade up to its full headcount of 4,800 soldiers by 2027.
Germany plans to station 4,800 German soldiers, 200 civilian workers and more than 150 armoured vehicles (including 44 Leopard 2A6 tanks) in the Baltic country by 2027 to protect NATO’s Eastern flank against Russian aggression.
A spokeswoman for the German Defence Ministry confirmed that the minimum term had been reduced to just one year in January 2026 to give more personnel “the option for service in the Lithuania brigade”.
In general, the period of service for German soldiers abroad is three years. For the German brigade in Lithuania, this had already been set at just two years.
This adds to earlier incentives to make service in the East more attractive for German soldiers. Those had been introduced in early 2025 with the so-called Zeitenwende (“turn of an era”) law and include regular trips back home, rent subsidies and the choice of a preferred place of work after their service in Lithuania ends.
German soldiers in Lithuania also get paid more – almost twice as much as at home in some cases – and profit from tax exemptions.
Nonetheless, the Bundeswehr is apparently facing difficulties with enticing enough soldiers to sign up for service in the East.
On February 12, magazine Der Spiegel reported that, according to a leaked internal document, by January 2026 the army had only found 209 volunteers for 1,971 posts still to be filled – a success quota of barely 10 per cent.
Reportedly, the shortfall was especially pronounced among the lower ranks, while there had not been a problem filling leading positions in Lithuania.
Defence ministry spokesman Mitko Müller denied the allegations in a press conference on February 13, saying: “I was a little surprised by that because I don’t think it is accurate. It seems to be based on expressions of interest from 2025. We believe that we can cover the further increase in brigade personnel on a voluntary basis.”
Despite the denial leading German politicians are now considering making service in Lithuania mandatory rather than purely voluntary.
The chair of the Bundestag’s defence committee, Thomas Röwenkamp (Christian Democratic Union, CDU), said: “The German Armed Forces is based on voluntary service and that remains the correct principle.
“If this is not sufficient for a mission that is indispensable in terms of security policy, such as the brigade in Lithuania, then service must also be made compulsory.”
Germany and Lithuania agreed on the deployment of the German armoured brigade in December 2023.
