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Defense Minister Pistorius
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FILIP SINGER/EPO
Every sixth post in the Bundeswehr could not be filled last year.
This is reported by the "Neue Osnabrücker Zeitung", citing a response from the Federal Ministry of Defense to a small request from the AfD.
According to this, almost 27,000 of the more than 164,000 jobs in the Bundeswehr remained vacant last year.
In addition, there is apparently a lack of billions for maintenance.
According to information from SPIEGEL, the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is demanding an additional 10 billion euros for the Bundeswehr.
His budget would thus increase to around 60 billion euros.
If he has his way, it should remain at this level in the years to come.
Without the increase, the modernization of the Bundeswehr promised by Chancellor Olaf Scholz (SPD) would not be possible, his officials argued in initial budget talks with the finance department.
There are plenty of reasons for the additional demand in the Bundeswehr.
For example, the troops need more money to replenish their empty ammunition depots.
Hardly any money is provided for this in the special fund for the armed forces, which is equipped with 100 billion euros.
In addition, Pistorius' planners fear that wage increases in the public sector will reduce the scope for investments in the Bundeswehr's operational readiness.
The size of the armed forces is currently stagnating at just over 183,000 soldiers.
The federal government wants 203,000 soldiers by 2031.
This is another reason why the reintroduction of conscription has been debated for weeks.
At the end of January, Pistorius himself described the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 as a "mistake" and argued that it was important for society to have a stronger connection to the Bundeswehr.
The reservists' association of the Bundeswehr also considers the reintroduction of conscription to be essential.
According to Patrick Sensburg, president of the association, Germany would be "not capable of defence" without conscription.
The SPD coalition partners in the traffic light government are skeptical or opposed to the reintroduction of conscription.
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