Germany’s military counterintelligence service MAD is screening Bundeswehr personnel before they can be assigned to the German brigade stationed in Lithuania, with the results determining whether soldiers receive the necessary security clearance.

Personnel who fail the screening are not dismissed from the Bundeswehr. They can remain in military service but are reassigned to positions requiring only a basic level of access to information.

According to Bild, citing sources, the security checks have resulted in some soldiers with Russian or Belarusian roots being denied assignments to the German brigade in Lithuania. The decisions were made on security grounds.

Family ties to Russia or Belarus do not automatically prevent Bundeswehr personnel from traveling to those countries. Soldiers are still allowed to visit relatives there, although they must inform their superiors about such trips.

Germany’s Defense Ministry confirmed that some military personnel with Russian roots had been denied service on NATO’s eastern flank. At the same time, the ministry said soldiers with family connections to Russia or Belarus are not subjected to stigmatization or discrimination on that basis.