More German troops and vehicles arrive in Lithuania as NATO bolsters eastern flank

Additional German troops and equipment have arrived in Lithuania after NATO decided to increase its presence on the alliance's eastern flank.

More than 200 soldiers from Germany's 413 Light Infantry Battalion and 50 vehicles arrived at Klaipeda port on Wednesday.

They will bolster the roughly 1,500 German personnel already deployed to the NATO battlegroup in the country, alongside military personnel from Belgium, the Czech Republic, Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Norway.

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Footage released by NATO shows German Boxer and Fuchs armoured vehicles arriving in Lithuania.

The additional troops and equipment comes after a decision taken at the Madrid Sumit in June that NATO would strengthen forward defences.

This move included increasing battlegroups in the eastern part of the alliance to brigade level - usually consisting of 3,000 - 5,000 soldiers.

Earlier this year, the UK and Lithuania signed a joint deal to build on the current defence co-operation the countries share as NATO allies, as well as will increase resistance to threats.