Germany will need as many as 260,000 active-duty soldiers to meet Nato\u2019s increasing defence demands, significantly more than the government\u2019s current target of 203,000, according to a report, citing the head of the country\u2019s military unionread more<\/p>\n
Germany will need as many as 260,000 active-duty soldiers to meet Nato\u2019s increasing defence demands, significantly more than the government\u2019s current target of 203,000, according to a Politico report, citing the head of the country\u2019s military union.<\/p>\n
That target was originally established in 2016, well before Russia\u2019s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and Nato\u2019s subsequent shift toward strengthening defence capabilities. Since then, the Bundeswehr has faced persistent challenges in expanding its ranks and currently has around 181,500 troops.<\/p>\n
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\u201cThe number of 203,000 is outdated and no longer realistic,\u201d Politico quoted Andr\u00e9 W\u00fcstner, chairman of the Bundeswehr Association, an influential interest group that advocates for better equipment, staffing and working conditions within the German armed forces, as saying in an interview with German media group RND published on Friday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI assume that, depending on what is decided at the Nato summit, we will need an additional 40,000 to 60,000 soldiers,\u201d he said, adding, \u201cThat means the active force would need to gradually grow to as many as 260,000 troops.\u201d<\/p>\n
Nato leaders are scheduled to meet in The Hague on June 24\u201325 for a summit where raising the alliance\u2019s defence spending target will be a key topic of discussion.<\/p>\n
W\u00fcstner\u2019s warning comes as the German government prepares to launch a new voluntary military service programme aimed at tackling the Bundeswehr\u2019s persistent personnel shortfall.<\/p>\n
Under the plan, all 18-year-old men will be asked to complete a questionnaire assessing their willingness and suitability for military service, while women may choose to participate voluntarily. The initiative aims to recruit approximately 5,000 volunteers annually, reported Politico.<\/p>\n
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius stressed that the programme is \u201cinitially voluntary,\u201d but signaled that more decisive measures could be considered in the future.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say this quite deliberately and honestly: The emphasis is also on \u2018initially,\u2019 in case we cannot recruit enough volunteers,\u201d Politico quoted Pistorius as telling lawmakers in the Bundestag earlier this month.<\/p>\n
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\u201cWe still have too few people for what our armed forces must accomplish,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n
Germany suspended conscription in 2011. A return of the draft would mark a significant political shift.<\/p>\n
With inputs from agencies<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Germany will need as many as 260,000 active-duty soldiers to meet Nato\u2019s increasing defence demands, significantly more than…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":144112,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5310],"tags":[62192,11071,62193,2993,2000,299,1824,62191,2597,2821,62195,62194,62196,62197],"class_list":{"0":"post-144111","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-germany","8":"tag-000-troops-to-meet-natos-growing-defence-demands","9":"tag-bundeswehr","10":"tag-conscription","11":"tag-defence","12":"tag-eu","13":"tag-europe","14":"tag-germany","15":"tag-germany-needs-up-to-260","16":"tag-military","17":"tag-nato","18":"tag-pistorius","19":"tag-recruitment","20":"tag-voluntary-service","21":"tag-wustner"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/114596838745288887","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=144111"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/144111\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/144112"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=144111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=144111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=144111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}