BERLIN, February 12. /TASS/. Germany can't find the manpower to staff its Lithuania brigade, Der Spiegel wrote citing an internal document of the German Defense Ministry.

According to the report, the process of creating a combat-ready brigade of the German armed forces in Lithuania, scheduled for 2027, has stalled as the number of military personnel ready for a two-year deployment on NATO’s eastern flank in Lithuania is way below the expected figures.

When the German Defense Minister announced plans to create the brigade in June 2023, he emphasized that the German force in Lithuania would be staffed only with volunteers.

The confidential document seen by Der Spiegel says "the number of applications from volunteers is insufficient," with rank-and-file servicemen being in the highest demand.

In particular, understaffing issues were reported by Germany’s 122nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion and the 203rd Tank Battalion, which are set to form the backbone of the German force in Lithuania. They are to be fully staffed by 2026 and deployed in the Baltic country in 2027.

So far, only 197 servicemen have volunteered to join the 203rd Tank Battalion, less than half the required number of 414. The 122nd Mechanized Infantry Battalion managed to enlist only 181 of the required 640.

A survey inside the German armed forces regarding the enrollment of the brigade’s "main strike force" - artillery, reconnaissance, bomb squads and auxiliary units - shows that only 209 servicemen had applied for 1,971 vacancies, which is less than 10%.