REVIEW - Germany Plans To Recruit Foreign Troops To Fill Army Shortages

BRUSSELS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 30th December, 2018) The initiative of the German Defense Ministry to fill in the military staff shortages by recruiting people from Eastern Europe contradicts the ideas of military loyalty and aggravates the problems of Eastern European armies, politicians and experts told Sputnik.

Since the end of the World War II, the German army, also known as the Bundeswehr, has remained relatively small, the numbers standing at slightly over 61,700 troops, as of the end of 2018, for the 80-million population. Germany, and most European countries likewise, finds it hard to recruit soldiers and military experts for whom army wages do not seem to tally with the job requirements. There is a shortage of some 18,500 troops in the Bundeswehr today.

The German Defense Ministry, headed by Ursula von der Leyen, plans to recruit more soldiers of foreign nationality to fill in the shortages. A confidential ministerial note obtained by German media earlier this week revealed that the minister wants to recruit Poles, Italians and Romanians, among others. The recruitment campaign would aim at the foreigners living in Germany with fluent German, an absolute condition. These men constitute "a quantitative potential" for the Bundeswehr, according to the confidential note.

Bundestag's hard-left party Die Linke opposes recruiting foreigners into the German armed forces.

"We have seen this trend in the past in other countries � the poor sent to die for the country... In Vietnam, it was African Americans and working class kids who were sent to the jungle to die. Now... Mrs von der Leyen targets Italy and Eastern Europe as the provider of cannon fodder for Germany. Maybe you are not good enough for a German passport, but you can die for Germany! And they announce that staff shortages would not be limited to national defense! Unacceptable," Fabio De Masi, a Bundestag deputy from Die Linke, told Sputnik.

To the right side of the political spectrum, Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, has come to the same conclusion.

"The German nationality must remain a basic requirement for the service as a soldier in the Bundeswehr," Rudiger Lucassen, an AfD member and spokesman for military issues, told Sputnik.

The politician recalled media reports alleging that Inspector General of the German Armed Forces Gen. Eberhard Zorn recommended recruiting EU foreigners for "special activities."

"The service in the Bundeswehr, as a soldier or civilian employee, is a commitment to the Fatherland, a sovereign task and it empowers Germany, among other material conditions for national and alliance defense. Identification with our German culture, our values and norms is an indispensable prerequisite for personal commitment in the Bundeswehr," the lawmaker said.

According to Lucassen, despite the attempts to implement various programs, von der Leyen has not been able to fill in the military staff shortages. There are still around 18,500 vacant posts in the armed forces and the tasks have to be provided by expensive private support services, the lawmaker said.

"High-ranking generals have until now complacently accepted this system of slow qualitative dismantling of our armed forces. Obviously, our generals have already given up the tried and tested German model of 'Innere Fuhrung' in the Bundeswehr and with it the essential aspects of the citizen in uniform," Lucassen added.

The defense policy spokeswoman for the Free Democratic Party, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, was also very critical of the army management in her address to the Bundestag.

"It is frightening to see how the previous reform efforts of the Federal Ministry of Defense have evaporated. Defense Minister von der Leyen has been announcing trend reversals and investing funds for years. Apparently, hardly anything has arrived to the troops so far, and there are many holes in the ranks," the politician said.

According to Strack-Zimmermann, the army has faced problems with the flagship A400 M transport aircraft, has too few transport helicopters and new infantry fighting vehicles, and lacks adequate equipment.

Germany's neighbors have not welcomed the initiative. Berlin takes advantage of its relatively high salaries and advantageous working conditions to attract young foreign recruits who could potentially go to the army in their own country.

Polish Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz told the German press that service in the army was "closely tied to nationality."

"Even in the diplomatic service or in the police only the country's own citizens are allowed. That's the rule everywhere. It is even more important in the military, because there is a certain loyalty expected there," Czaputowicz said.

The Polish minister urges Berlin to consult its allies in Europe, including Warsaw.

"If Germany introduces such a law without consulting Poland first, it would not be good, because Germany is sure to have more to offer to foreign workers and probably to soldiers too," Czaputowicz said.

Similar concerns have risen from the Bulgarian government. Sofia complained to the German military that even today 20 percent of positions in Bulgaria's own armed forces could not be filled because of staff shortages.

"If Germany now opens up its army with significantly better salaries, catastrophic consequences could be expected in Bulgaria," a spokesperson for the Bulgarian Foreign Ministry said.

NO CONCLUSIVE EVIDENCE OF BENEFIT FOR ARMY

"Belgian and Dutch experiences [of foreign recruitment] were not conclusive. Few candidates remained under the flag for one year at most," Belgian military expert Pierre Henrot told Sputnik.

The problem is that the training process of foreign troops lacks group spirit, motivation, discipline, respect for hierarchy and orders, the expert said. Young recruits are more like mercenaries and are not bound by a sense of loyalty to the EU flag, according to Henrot.

"Another real problem that nobody talks about is the very poor physical condition of our young people. In most European countries, quite a few candidates to the armed forces fail physical tests," Henrot said.

Finally, Europe faces the challenge on the part of radical Islamists who engage in a European army to receive training on weapons and explosives, according to Henrot.

"There were about 50, who were identified in the Belgian armed forces ... The same problem exists in France, Germany, the Netherlands. European defense still has much progress to do," the expert concluded.

There are about 255,000 Poles, 185,000 Italians and 155,000 Romanians aged 18-40 living in Germany. Together they make up about half of all EU foreigners who reside in Germany. If at least 10 percent of this group are interested in serving in the Bundeswehr, this would mean more than 50,000 possible new applicants for the army, the number much higher than the current shortage.