“Until the final infrastructure in Rūdninkai is ready we are preparing interim solutions for the first elements of the brigade coming next year,” Kasčiūnas told journalists in Berlin on Friday “The German forces will use already existing Lithuanian Armed Forces’ infrastructure in close proximity to Vilnius in Nemenčinė and Rokantiškės,” he explained His comments came after he and his German counterpart Boris Pistorius signed an agreement on the rights of German troops “Please be assured that those are merely interim solutions and that every effort is being made to find the best ways to speed up the construction in Rūdninkai and have the final infrastructure ready,” Kasčiūnas said Nemenčinė in Vilnius District is home to the General Adolfas Ramanauskas Combat Training Centre and the military facilities opened in the Rokantiškės area of Vilnius six months ago house the Duke Vaidotas Infantry Battalion Lithuania’s political leadership claimed that the site in Rokantiškės would be exclusively used by Lithuanian troops Kasčiūnas hinted that Lithuania was considering temporarily accommodating German troops in the barracks around Vilnius if the construction in Rūdnininkai was not finished in time This option was then criticised by former Defence Minister Arvydas Anušauskas who said that transferring the infrastructure to the Germans would be detrimental to the Lithuanian service Kasčiūnas stressed on Friday that German troops will be accommodated in Rokantiškės and Nemenčinė only in 2025 "To build the infrastructure you need at least two or three years It's just an interim solution agreed by both sides," the Lithuanian minister said adding that "there is no link to any obstacles" Berlin plans to deploy the brigade in Lithuania by the end of 2027 but stresses that the deployment pace will depend on Lithuania's readiness to host the troops and their families and the creation of the necessary conditions some officials in Germany and Lithuania fear this date could be pushed back And the plan means we are still aiming to be with the full combat-ready brigade by the end of 2027 This is the objective," German Defense Minister Pistorius underlined The German brigade will consist of around 5,000 troops Lithuania estimates that a third of them will arrive with their families Lithuania’s Defence Ministry estimated that the investment in the necessary military and training infrastructure could reach 800 million euros The German brigade’s initial element arrived in Lithuania in early April and several dozen soldiers settled in Vilnius and are responsible for planning the brigade’s deployment to Lithuania we will have around 500 servicemen and women in Lithuania,” the German defence minister said and medical personnel will arrive in Lithuania Berlin hopes to fill the planned brigade with volunteers but some of them are sceptical about the possibility of going to Lithuania all the posts for next year are already filled now,” Pistorius said and we want to make sure that people feel happy there At the moment everything seems to be going fine.” This work, Civil Affairs Team delivers medical supplies to state distribution center, by SFC Scott Longstreet, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright coaches and young athletes of the Vilnius District Sports School are congratulated on the inauguration of the newly constructed Sports School's administrative building which took place a little more than a month ago. (Kalno st A group of esteemed guests came to congratulate not only the community of Vilnius District Sports School but also all residents of Nemenčinė city with happy and long-awaited news: Minister of Internal Affairs Rita Tamašunienė Mayor of Vilnius District Municipality Marija Rekst project contractor UAB "Giresta" Deputy General Director representatives of the Department of Education Sports and Tourism of the Vilnius District Municipality Administration representatives of educational and cultural institutions President of the Lithuanian National Skiing Association Remigijus Arlauskas President of the Lithuanian Biathlon Federation Arūnas Daugirdas biathletes Karolis Dombrovskis and Diana Rasimovič also came to celebrate the project which is extremely important for the young athletes and the entire field of sports "It is a pleasure to see you here at such an important and long-awaited moment for us - the occasion of the opening of the administrative building of the Sports School This day was especially awaited by the representatives of winter sports who now have good conditions for training and I hope they will improve even more in December when the installation of the skating track will be completed Baltic Cup biathlon and skiing competitions I want to thank the current Government and the heads of the Vilnius District Municipality for this beautiful gift without whose efforts and work obtaining state funding for the construction of an administrative building would still remain a dream put a lot of effort into the realization of our dream the director of the Vilnius District Sports School "I hope that this building will not only be the headquarters of the Sports School's administration but will become a center of attraction for sportsmen from Nemenchi and surrounding residents where children and adults will find an interesting form of free time," added the director of the Sports School "I sincerely congratulate everyone and I am glad that a new project has appeared that will serve you and I believe that it will contribute and help in achieving good results and achievements I wish you a lot of joy from your achievements don't stop and boldly strive for even greater heights On behalf of all residents of the Vilnius district I thank you for honorably representing the district in national and international competitions patience and ability to instill in our youth a love for what they do and know best I believe that you will not run out of motivation to achieve your personal victories in this beautiful and modern building" congratulating the community of the sports school and the athletes who make Vilnius district famous The mayor of Vilnius district was also happy that Vilnius District Municipality in recent years implemented many excellent projects related to sports activities so that the children of the district can attend the Vilnius district sports school for free "When organizing sports activities, Vilnius district municipality pays great attention to the accessibility of physical activity services to the largest possible number of residents of the district. Sports infrastructure has been created in many wards of the Vilnius district, so residents have the opportunity to engage in physical activity. in Vilnius district 34 sports fields we do not stop at the achieved results and continue infrastructure development works and ambitious projects" I would like to say special words of thanks to the director of the Sports School a person who has a dream and who does not let go of that dream throughout his life Now the athletes and their coaches will have excellent conditions - congratulated the Minister of the Interior R Tamašunienė on the opening of the new sports school premises President of the Lithuanian Biathlon Federation A congratulating and thanking the Municipality and all those who contributed to the implementation of this project presented a medal to the Mayor of Vilnius District Municipality the young athletes organized a spirited musical-sports performance for the guests After cutting the symbolic ribbon of the new administrative sports school building The parish priest of Archangel Michael parish director of the Vilnius district sports school the new sports school building - this is by no means the end the biathlon shooting range of the Vilnius District Sports School was solemnly presented to the sports community today the administrative building of the sports school was officially opened and until today December 15 the biathlon roller track will be paved - this is a huge important and three-stage project that has attracted the admiration of athletes" said the director of the Vilnius District Sports School is surprising from many perspectives - not only professional sports training will take place here all residents of the city of Nemenčinės and guests who want to rent equipment will be able to spend their free time actively and biathlon lovers coming from abroad for competitions or camps will be able to stay in the equipped accommodation rooms On the plinth floor of the sports school is the main entrance for visitors, equipped here ski service premises soon a sports equipment rental point will be established here where anyone who wants to can rent a bicycle The school administration was located on the first floor There are specialized offices for coaches and a functional conference hall there are rooms for short-term accommodation of athletes Phase I of the project - 2017 The value of the biathlon shooting range of the Vilnius District Sports School The project was financed by the Vilnius District Municipality the administrative building of the Vilnius District Sports School Asphalting of stage III - biathlon roller skating track is financed from state funds reproduction and distribution are permitted only with the written consent of UAB "Naujosios medijos grupė" The first ones to undergo testing are all workers of the local garment factory Vilnika where the Covid-19 outbreak began Read more: Lithuania to seal off town to contain coronavirus hotspot “The [government's] Covid-19 committee decided today to test more residents starting from workers of Vilnika,” she told reporters on Thursday [all] residents of Nemenčinė will be tested so they can find out whether they have the virus or not,” she added Nineteen workers of the factory were diagnosed with the virus last week as well as an employee of a local elderly care home This prompted the government to put the entire town of about 5,000 people near Vilnius under lockdown restricting movement from and to Nemenčinė for a week the director of administration at Vilnius District Municipality the local care home where coronavirus was detected were tested on Wednesday and the remaining would be tested on Thursday the home has around 200 residents and 150 employees Participated in the opening Vilnius district the mayor of the municipality was happy that another great place for residents to spend their free time in the fresh air has appeared in the city of Nemenčinės "We can only be happy that our only city in the Vilnius district This is the first disc golf course in the Vilnius region I hope that such places will be installed in other settlements of the district as well because it is a great opportunity to create an active leisure space for young people children and families with minimal funds and means I hope that this sport will become popular and practiced," said Mayor R The establishment of the Diskfolgo Park was financed by the Nemenčinė City Council About 10 thousand was invested in arranging the plot and acquiring the inventory where representatives of all age groups will be able to spend their free time - from the youngest to the oldest This sport appeared in Lithuania about 20 years ago and is now extremely popular thanks to the initiative of the elders and the community today everyone can enjoy the newly arranged space and try a new sport in the fresh air Together with the elders and the community do active sports and have a great time," said elder A Chairman of the Lithuanian Disc Golf Federation who contributed to the establishment of the park on his own initiative congratulated all those present and hoped that the new sport brought to Nemenčina would be loved and actively promoted the first competition will be organized in the Nemenčinė disc golf park in which about 50 participants will participate We invite local residents and guests to try the new disc golf course Disc golf is an outdoor sports game very similar to traditional golf The disc is thrown from the starting point towards a special basket The aim of the game is to throw the disc into the game basket after making as few throws as possible we signed a plan outlining Germany’s deployment here and our preparedness The essence of this plan is that (the brigade will be deployed) as soon as we are ready,” General Rupšys told reporters in Nemenčinė on Friday He also said that options are being considered for relocating the brigade even before all the necessary infrastructure is in place “We have to work in a focused and responsible way to make sure that they can come here I will be very frank and say that we are talking and looking at options in case some infrastructure is not yet complete and coordinating interim options for deployment so that this redeployment plan can be implemented,” he said The Lithuanian chief of defence was speaking in a joint news conference with Ruprecht von Butler commander of Germany’s 10th Armoured Division as the Bundeswehr’s large-scale exercise Grand Quadriga 2024 continues in Lithuania President Nausėda has said recently that the tense geopolitical situation in the region calls for faster deployment of the German brigade “I am pleased with the progress of the brigade’s deployment but our strategic security environment requires an even faster pace We do not have the luxury of wasting a single minute,” he told reporters on Monday Berlin plans to deploy the brigade in Lithuania by 2027 Germany has previously said that the pace of its deployment would depend on how fast Lithuania builds the necessary infrastructure to host the troops and their families Discussions on the deployment of a German brigade in Lithuania started after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine Berlin announced its concrete commitment in June 2023 Rupšys has said earlier that the final result of the Grand Quadriga exercise will be known in June over 3,000 German troops and 200 pieces of equipment are to be deployed into Lithuania’s Pabradė and Kazlų Ruda training areas The Lithuanian Armed Forces have said that the exercise centres around moving two divisions from the Central European region to Eastern Europe Lithuanian units are training alongside the German units to plan and execute operations and are also providing host nation support Lithuania's total death count stands at 24 as of Monday 41,503 tests have been carried out in Lithuania since the outbreak Three police officers and one police staffer are among the confirmed infections Interior Ministry spokesman Ramūnas Matonis told LRT RADIO between 20 and 30 police officers have self-isolated after coming into contact with infected people a town some 20 kilometres north of Vilnius has become a new coronavirus hotspot in the country An employee at a local garment factory was diagnosed with Covid-19 last Friday the infection had been confirmed for 13 of the factory's workers The factory of 314 workers is now the biggest coronavirus infection hotspot outside hospitals in the country the head of the National Public Health Centre's Vilnius Department “[The disease] is spreading rapidly and it is a cause for great concern,” she said about Nemenčinė