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Swearing in of recruits in Saxony
Photo: Jan Woitas/dpa
The Bundeswehr will have recruited around 18,800 new soldiers in 2023. The proportion of minors among recruits rose again: 1,996 soldiers were only 17 years old at the time of their recruitment. This corresponds to a share of 10.6 percent after 9.4 percent in the previous year. This emerges from an overview that the Federal Ministry of Defense presented upon request.
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The SPD, Greens and FDP had agreed in the federal coalition agreement: "Training and service with weapons are reserved for adult soldiers." The Ministry of Defense has now announced that 17-year-old applicants would only be hired "if they have a comprehensive physical and pass the psychological aptitude test. The military training also takes into account extensive protection regulations for minors: "Specifically, this means: no participation in guard services or foreign missions, use of the weapon only for training purposes."
A total of 15,935 men and 2,867 women took up service in the Bundeswehr last year, making a total of 18,802 recruits. That is slightly more than the year before: in 2022, the year of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the number of new recruits rose by around twelve percent to 18,775.
However, the pre-Corona level was not reached. In 2019, 20,170 soldiers started their service. The proportion of women has now fallen slightly to 15 percent, following an increase to 17 percent in the previous year.
dab/dpa