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Public vow by Bundeswehr soldiers in Thuringia: “Think much more European”
Photo: Bodo Schackow / dpa
FDP defense politician Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann has shown herself open to accepting soldiers without a German passport into the force.
“Basically, we have to think in a much more European way when looking for suitable young people who are willing to serve in the Bundeswehr,” she told the “Rheinische Post”.
This also includes the consideration "that soldiers without a German passport can get one more quickly through successful service in the Bundeswehr," said the chairwoman of the Defense Committee in the Bundestag.
The CDU defense politician Johann Wadephul told the newspaper that the idea was fundamentally correct, but the design was crucial.
»Does this option only apply to citizens of EU or NATO states or even beyond?
Is complete knowledge of the German language necessary?”
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) recently brought up a modified conscription and also opening up the force to soldiers without a German passport.
"We wouldn't be the first armed forces in Europe to do that," Pistorius told the Tagesspiegel.
There are people in the country who live in Germany in the second or third generation but do not yet have German citizenship.
CDU politician Wadephul urged Pistorius to follow his words with actions.
»Minister Pistorius himself stated that the Bundeswehr must be ready for war in five to eight years.
That's an incredibly short period of time when it comes to HR strategy.
So he should act quickly.”
phw/dpa/Reuters