by Niall McCarthy
Germany sent its first tanks to Lithuania a few days ago as part of a NATO mission to reinforce and defend member states in Eastern Europe.
70 years on from World War II, the deployment of German troops to the region remains a sensitive issue. They will lead a battalion with forces from Belgium, Croatia, France, Luxembourg and the Netherlands in Lithuania. The UK will lead a battalion in Estonia while Canada will lead one in Latvia.
The U.S. Army has also deployed thousands of soldiers equipped with main battle tanks and infantry fighting vehicles to Poland, its largest military buildup since the Cold War. As a result of Russian actions in the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine, NATO decided to deploy four battalions totalling approximately 4,000 troops to the Baltic States who fear possible military action by Moscow. Russia has denied it has hostile intentions and denounced NATO's military buildup as aggressive and threatening.
This chart shows the composition of NATO forces stationed in Eastern Europe.
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