Currently, female soldiers represent a very small proportion of personnel in the Bundeswehr’s standing brigade in Lithuania. According to a Ministry of Defence spokesperson quoted by the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland,” as of September 16th, 183 women are scheduled or already deployed in the units of the Combat Troops Brigade in Lithuania. However, the Ministry indicated that they expect further voluntary applications from both women and men in the coming weeks and months.
Previously, the Ministry stated that nearly 80 percent of the posts in Panzer Brigade 45 “Lithuania” were filled by volunteers. Given a target size of 4,800 soldiers, this total translates to 3,840 personnel, meaning that women currently account for just under 4.8 percent of the force.
The Ministry is facing difficulties filling the Lithuanian Brigade-which is scheduled to be fully operational by the end of 2027-using only volunteers. Consequently, several hundred soldiers will now have to be called up through mandatory service.
