This has always been the case.
News this is not but it’s amusing to see the media pretend it is.
German defence minister says military is unfit for problems Europe faces – Boris Pistorius says Germany must be ready to confront Putin as he considers allowing non-nationals to join armed forces.
Yawn. Another “secret report” has been “discovered” somewhere. I hate public secret reports.
Especially when public secret reports like these are nothing other than plans. Normal military plans. Armies plan for everything, that’s what they’re supposed to do. Even when they aren’t real armies, like the Bundeswehr.
Germany ‘preparing for war’ as conflict between NATO and Russia ‘imminent’ – One of the founding principles of NATO is collective defence, which sees all members leaping to the defence of another country part of the alliance if it invokes Article 5.
Referring to a secret Bundeswehr document, a source told German daily Bild that an escalation between Moscow and the Western alliance could start as early as next month.
The confidential document details how the war may erupt, with events and incidents happening month after month.
Because it’s always spotted.
Or being repaired. Or hasn’t been delivered yet. Or on fire. Or…
Ukraine Only Has a Few German Leopard Tanks Left: Lawmaker – Ukraine’s military only has a few Leopard 2A6 tanks left that are fit for combat after receiving 18 from Germany in March, according to German politician and economist Sebastian Schäfer…
However, some of the Leopard tanks reportedly sat unused in storage or needed repairs before being sent to Ukraine, sparking concerns about the vehicles’ battle-readiness. Prior to Berlin pledging to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine, the head of German military manufacturer Rheinmetall told German newspaper Bild that stocks of Leopard 1 and Leopard 2 tanks “must be completely dismantled and rebuilt.”
That means conscription.
Germany mulls reintroduction of compulsory military service – The Bundeswehr is facing a dramatic shortage in personnel. Now Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has rekindled the debate over reintroducing conscription.
At the end of October, the Bundeswehr said it counted 181,383 soldiers in its ranks — that’s still some distance from the target of 203,000 that the German military hopes to reach by 2025. This has given rise to concern in times of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has once again reminded Germans how quickly conflicts can erupt in Europe.
Since taking office at the beginning of 2023, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has been thinking about ways to make the Bundeswehr more attractive as a career. He said he has received 65 concrete proposals from his ministry on recruitment and reforming training methods.
Even conscription, something Germany ended in 2011, is also up for debate. “There were reasons at the time to suspend compulsory military service. In retrospect, however, it was a mistake,” Pistorius told newspaper Die Welt earlier in December.
Hang in there, Lithuania.
German cavalry is on its way.
German brigade to be combat ready in Lithuania, on Russian border, in 2027.
A permanent German brigade of about 4,800 soldiers in Lithuania, on the Russian border, will be combat-ready in 2027, defence ministers of both NATO members said on Monday after signing an agreement on German troops’ first permanent foreign deployment since World War Two.
You’ll never ever find yourselves in that role and everybody knows it. Like, we get it already. Yawn.
It would be nice, however, if you could maybe possibly perhaps put yourselves in the position to defend yourselves. Just saying.
Most Germans oppose military leadership role in Europe – 54% of Germans say they do not want Berlin to pursue more active foreign policy, and 71% say they are against taking on leadership role for Europe’s defense.
According to the survey, a majority of Germans are against a more militarized foreign policy, but support diplomatic efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts.
That means loser. It also means losers (in plural).
US and Germany risk owning Ukraine’s stalling war effort – The onus is on European allies to step up support and chart a path for Kyiv towards Nato and EU membership.
More than 50 countries are supporting Ukraine in its defence against Russia’s full-scale invasion. Yet Ukraine’s existential struggle in Europe’s largest war since 1945 currently hinges mainly on two countries. US leadership, as well as financial and material support for Kyiv, have been essential to Ukraine’s survival. Germany is its second largest supplier of weapons and money, far ahead of the rest of the field.
About getting serious?
Don’t take that nonsense seriously, folks. I’m serious.
Wind of change: Germany gets serious about plans to make military ‘fit for war’ – The return of full-scale armed conflict to Europe has Germany dramatically reframing its security policy.
With Russia and Ukraine still locked in combat after nearly two years and a major Israeli-Palestinian conflict underway, the European Union and NATO are feeling their way into a chaotic new world security order – and Europe’s largest economy is shaking up decades-old ideas on what its military is actually for.
You know. To get “fit for war?”
Germany Set to Double Its Ukraine Military Aid Under Scholz Plan – SPD-led coalition parties agree on funding boost to €8 billion. Germany is Ukraine’s biggest military backer in Europe.
If approved by the parliament in Berlin where Scholz’s parties hold a majority, the boost would lift Germany’s defense spending beyond the 2% of gross domestic product target pledged by all North Atlantic Treaty Organization members, according to the people.
In German. “Was,” in English.
So that headline down there doesn’t make much sense – in my mind. The German army was never “was ready” and never will be.
Germany aims for a ‘war-ready’ military – It’s the most momentous shift in German defense priorities since 2011.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine is forcing Germany to turn its military into a powerful and well-financed fighting force focused on defending the country and NATO allies, Germany’s chancellor said on Friday.
“Today, nobody can seriously doubt what we in Germany have been avoiding for a long time, namely that we need a powerful Bundeswehr,” Olaf Scholz said on the second day of a political-military conference presenting the deep change in Berlin’s strategic thinking.
“Our peace order is in danger,” he warned, also mentioning the war between Hamas and Israel and adding that Germany needs “a long-term, permanent change of course.”
Observing Hermann 