German Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer announced the launch of a major reform of the Bundeswehr Special Operations Command (Kommandos Spezialkräfte, KSK), according to the website of the country's military department. The goal of the reforms is to clear the right-wing radical sentiments of the elite German units.
According to Kramp-Karrenbauer, the proportion of carriers of extremist ideology in the ranks of special forces is higher than the average for the Bundeswehr. She explained this state of affairs by the unhealthy perception of KSK soldiers and officers of her elite position in the structure of the armed forces.
“The vast majority of you (the Bundeswehr personnel. - RT ) have strongly adhered to and adhere to the values of our Basic Law and defend it. Despite this, the KSK Bundeswehr has been more likely to suspect extremist extremism and lack of fidelity to the constitution since April 2017, ”said Kramp-Karrenbauer, addressing the military during a press conference in Berlin.
According to German media reports, in April 2017, German commandos held a farewell party in honor of one of the KSK commanders, during which Nazi greetings were heard and pork throwing competitions were held.
Later, the Saxony police discovered a cache with weapons and ammunition at one of the guests, while another soldier was sentenced by a Boeblingen court to a fine of € 4,000 for demonstrating national socialist gestures. The participants of the entertainment event themselves claim that they did not break the law and were fooling around, depicting the greetings of Ancient Rome, where it was customary to throw up the right hand.
However, in the Bundeswehr following the results of the investigation, the arguments of the special forces were rejected. Kramp-Karrenbauer called the KSK military party a “triumph” of extremist right-wing behavior. According to the military department of the Federal Republic of Germany, fighters of the 2nd special-purpose company took part in it. As a result, this formation was dissolved.
"The sad consequences"
Kramp-Karrenbauer noted that since its founding in 1996, the Special Operations Command has been impeccably fulfilling its tasks, however, due to problems with extremism, it has lost its previous level of trust from the authorities.
In total, the German military department intends to implement about 60 initiatives to rectify the situation. These proposals were prepared by the KSK Reform Working Group, established by Kramp-Karrenbauer on May 29 this year. Prior to submitting the final report to the Minister of Defense, group members held talks with soldiers, officers, and special operations forces command.
- German Minister of Defense Annegret Crump-Karrenbauer
- © John MACDOUGALL / AFP
The main direction of the reforms proposed by the working group is to integrate army special forces into the Bundeswehr. In particular, the training of KSK personnel will take place according to the combined arms program. The training will be supervised by the infantry school in Hammelburg (Bavaria).
Since the launch of the reform, German special operations forces have temporarily stopped participating in international missions. Instead, other army units will operate abroad. In addition, the Ministry of Defense will tighten control over the circulation of weapons and ammunition KSK, and special forces will undergo regular personnel rotation.
The leadership of the German military department expects to improve the fight against extremism, including by deepening cooperation with the Federal Constitutional Defense Service (Bundesamt für Verfassungsschutz, BfV), which, along with other counterintelligence agencies, is engaged in counteracting the spread of radical right views.
The Special Operations Command is currently under threat of dissolution. The Bundeswehr leadership is ready to take such a step if the KSK reform does not lead to the desired results. A separate concern of the German Ministry of Defense is the disappearance of 48,000 cartridges and 62 kg of explosives from the arsenals of special operations forces. The whereabouts of the missing weapons is still unknown.
Ideological crisis
As noted by German authorities, the problem of extremism is not unique to KSK, but also to other parts of the Bundeswehr. In January 2020, the report of the authorized Bundestag for military affairs of Hans-Peter Bartels was published, which spoke about the growing incidence of manifestations of neo-Nazi sentiment. In 2016, 63 such incidents were recorded, in 2017 - 167, in 2018 - 170.
Some of the FRG's military personnel allow the demonstration of radical views in social networks and in conversations with colleagues. Soldiers allow themselves to listen to far-right music, give “Roman fireworks”, praise the SS, Hitler’s policies and joke about the Holocaust.
Germany’s military counterintelligence service (Der Militärische Abschirmdienst, MAD) is also concerned about the spread of radical right-wing sentiments in the Bundeswehr. Several hundred military personnel and reservists fell under suspicion.
However, the issue of extremism in the Bundeswehr in Germany is assessed ambiguously. So, in a comment by Bild, former German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel said that MAD statistics should not be taken as a cause for serious concern. According to him, right-wing ideas in the ranks of the Bundeswehr were present before. “Active ideological work” was carried out with their carriers, and these measures proved to be sufficient, says Gabriel.
“Now we need to investigate the cases of which it became known. If in doubt, these people need to be removed from the Bundeswehr and make sure that they will not have access to weapons and they will not be able to campaign. But, in my opinion, the threat that the Bundeswehr will become a right-wing radical organization is very small, ”said the former Foreign Minister of Germany.
A similar opinion is shared by a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) Wolfgang Bosbach. At the same time, in a conversation with Bild, the politician urged to pay attention to the process of radicalization - whether it takes place in the army or before entering military service.
In an RT commentary, an expert at the Association of Military Political Scientists Andrei Koshkin said that German politicians make a big mistake by underestimating the potential for spreading radical sentiment. According to him, the Bundeswehr is now undergoing a period of “moral decay” due to the country's internal and foreign policy problems.
“Here you should not be guided by the opinion of politicians because of their bias. I don’t think they can look at the situation impartially. But the historical experience of this country, despite all efforts to denazify, suggests that the army is a breeding ground for the development of right-wing radicalism. The armed forces of Germany really need to be looked after, ”said Koshkin.
According to the expert, the problem of radicalism in the Bundeswehr has arisen on the agenda for many reasons. Koshkin believes that deteriorating relations with the United States, which are going to withdraw 9.5 thousand soldiers from Germany, played an important negative role. Germany perceives this step as a decrease in its international status, which also provokes “inappropriate emotions” in the military environment, the political scientist argues.
- German soldiers at the Grosser Zapfenstreich ceremony (ritual of farewell troops with the outgoing Minister of Defense)
- © Odd ANDERSEN / AFP
“It is appropriate to mention the discussions in Germany on security issues, one of which the military considers itself to be one of. Surely many of them do not support the migration policy of Merkel and the excessive loyalty of the government to offenses by migrants. These factors may well contribute to the growth of right-wing extremism among the military, ”says Koshkin.
In turn, the leading researcher at the Center for German Studies of the Institute of Europe of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Alexander Kamkin, is skeptical about the ability of the German Ministry of Defense to carry out an adequate KSK reform to eradicate radicalism. In an interview with RT, the expert suggested that the planned cleansing of the ranks in reality could be directed against servicemen who disagree with the authorities' policies.
According to the expert, the Institute of the Armed Forces of Germany is undergoing an ideological crisis connected with a lack of understanding of the foreign policy of Berlin and irritation due to the liberal migration policy.
At the same time, Sergei Fokin, a professor at the Russian Foreign Policy Department at the National Security Department of the RANEPA, believes that the growing discontent in the ranks of the Bundeswehr could well result in sabotage and unrest with the participation of military personnel.
“The German military cannot organize a coup. However, with the support of the military, Germany may well experience unrest comparable in scale to those of recent weeks in the United States. In the future, I would not rule out the possibility of the right-wing forces coming to power in Berlin relying on the Bundeswehr, ”Fokin explained.