Merz on Lithuania visit says Russia threatens 'security in Europe'

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz warned Thursday that Russia threatened security in Europe, during a visit to Lithuania to mark the formation of his country's first permanent overseas military unit since World War II. "There is a threat to us all from Russia," Merz said at a press conference in Vilnius. Stationing a military unit abroad permanently is unprecedented in the post-war history of the Bundeswehr, as the German armed forces are known.