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December 28, 2018

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Germany looks to EU nationals to boost army

Source: Agencies | 00:05 UTC+8 December 28, 2018 | Print Edition

Struggling to fill its ranks, Germany鈥檚 military is drawing up plans to recruit nationals from other European Union countries as part of a drive to beef up the armed forces.

Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen wants to recruit Poles, Italians and Romanians, magazine Der Spiegel said, citing a ministry document.

The German military, or Bundeswehr, has stepped up its recruitment efforts as part of a broader reset following Russia鈥檚 annexation of Crimea from Ukraine in 2014. Last year, Germany said it would increase the size of its armed forces to 198,000 active soldiers by 2024 from 179,000.

Pressure on Berlin mounted again in July when US President Donald Trump told a NATO summit that Washington could withdraw support for the alliance if Europe did not boost military spending.

According to the classified ministry document, some 255,000 Poles, 185,000 Italians and 155,000 Romanians, aged between 18 and 40, live in Germany 鈥 about half all foreign EU nationals. If 10 percent of them could be interested in the Bundeswehr, that could generate nearly 60,000 new applicants.

It did not say if they would serve alongside Germans in regular regiments, or would form their on units akin to the French Foreign Legion.

There was no immediate comment from the ministry.

The ministry wants to limit the group of potential recruits to those who have lived in Germany for several years and speak fluent German, Der Spiegel said.

Such limits would aim to minimize concern among other European Union countries about Germany luring their potential soldiers with better pay.

The ministry had sounded out defense attaches in other EU countries about the plan in recent months with 鈥渧ery different results,鈥 Der Spiegel said.

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