Germany begins to enhance the armed forces with gigantic money subsidies and recruitment. “Military service is needed,” says an expert in the defense strategy.
Berlin Development of defense has risen to the top of German politics since the President of the United States Donald Trump and vice president JD VANCE felled by the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky last Friday.
On Tuesday night, a unique event was seen in the history of the entire German Federal Republic.
Before the Christian Democratic CDU, it was unlikely to start government negotiations with the Social Democrats’ SPD, when party leaders already announced from giganticFrom 500 billion weapons and investment packages- and to lighten the famous German debt brake.
– Whatever It Takes (whatever is needed), CDU leader Friedrich Merz Said while describing the investments in defense. This is how he mimicked the most famous words in the euro crisis of the past years.
– No boundaries, accompanied the CDU’s Brotherhood CSU leader and Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder.
Handelsblatt magazine According to the plans, the plans can lead to an additional debt of EUR 1.5 euros (€ 1,500 billion). It would be a huge change in the course of debt Germany.
Where do more soldiers?
In addition to weapons, Germany lacks soft strength, or tens, if not hundreds of thousands of soldiers. Therefore cdu wishes restore compulsory military service already this year.
Also, a large part of the new defense capital agreed on Tuesday will go to recruitment, training and personnel costs.
– In order to grow the size of the army, I believe that both men and women, an expert in defense strategy, are needed for military service Ben Schreer says in an interview with EPN.
Schreer is leading the International Strategic Research Institute IISS in Berlin. He recalls that at the end of the Cold War, West Germany alone had about 550,000 soldiers.
The United Germany now has less than 200,000 soldiers and reserve people.
– If we want to fix the opening that is at the level of defense and sustainability in Europe, then everyone is needed to participate.
“Must create a civil soldier”
Schreer believes that troops are not only needed to grab weapons or to steer tanks but also to civil protection.
– You need to re -create a so -called civil soldier. During a conventional or hybrid war, everyone could perform critical tasks in civil protection.
Schreer believes that such a mandatory army or service would be beneficial to society when people learn how to work in crisis.
– It does not make a functional society any more militarist if it is carefully designed.
It will take three to five years before military service starts significantly in the operation of the armed forces.
“The rebuilding of these things only takes a very long time,” Schreer says.
The majority supports military service
Germany abolished military service in July 2011. Bundeswehr was completely transformed into professional and voluntary basis. Civil service also disappeared.
In the main picture of this story, young people aged 18-25 in the military, that is, young people aged 18-25 tell them what they would think about mandatory military service.
In many of the past few years in opinion polls A clear majority of the Germans supports the return of military service.
A significant speech on behalf of military service was made on Tuesday former Greens Foreign Minister Joschka Fischerwho once supported the removal of military service in the government in 2011.
– It was a mistake that now has to be corrected. Mandatory military service must be re -enabled for both sexes, Fischer said Stern magazine in an interview.