According to the Rheinische Post, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius is open to consider enlisting non-nationals in the country’s armed forces in order to address manpower shortfalls.
Pistorius stated last year that the German military, the Bundeswehr, was having trouble attracting new members. Following the crisis between Russia and Ukraine, Berlin plans to revamp its military forces.
Chancellor Olaf Scholz has promised to increase defence spending to assist modernise the Bundeswehr, which has long been accused of lacking resources and financing. In order to increase declining numbers, Pistorius has stated that he is open to discuss widening recruiting to include persons who do not hold a German passport.
We would not be the first armed forces in Europe to do this,” Pistorius said, according to the Rheinische Post on Sunday. “There are people in the country who live in Germany in the second or third generation, but do not yet have German citizenship.”
The initiative has gained some support from the Free Democratic Party (FDP), which is part of Germany’s three-way coalition government, as well as the opposition bloc of the Christian Democratic Union and the Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU).
“In the search for suitable young people ready to serve in the ranks of the Bundeswehr, we must in principle be prepared to think on a much more European scale,” Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmerman, head of the Bundestag’s Defense Committee, was quoted as saying.
“Related to this issue is the idea that soldiers without a German passport can quickly obtain one through service in the Bundeswehr,” she added.
However, Johann Wadephul, a defence adviser for the CDU/CSU faction, cautioned that the concept required further elaboration before it can be legally implemented. “Will this chance be limited to inhabitants of the EU and NATO countries, or will it be extended to others? Is fluency in German required for this?” he said, according to the Rheinische Post.
According to DW, Germany intends to boost its military troops to 203,000 by 2025, up from its present level of approximately 181,000. Speaking in Stuttgart in August, Pistorius claimed that efforts to increase Bundeswehr numbers are impeded by slow recruitment, with 7% fewer potential recruits applying than the previous year.
