German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said on June 2 that it should be clear to Moscow that NATO will be ready to defend itself if necessary. Speaking at the Eastern German Economic Forum also attended by Lithuanian Prime Minister Ingrida Simonyte, Scholz said Germany has played a leading role in NATO's presence in the Baltics on Russia's border. "And because the threat from Russia will continue, we and other allies decided last year to deploy additional units to the Baltic states and to station an entire brigade there permanently in future," Scholz said, according to a speech manuscript. "But this turnaround in security policy is necessary to show Russia: We are prepared to defend every square inch of NATO territory against attacks."
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