Germany's Defense Ministry plans to allow citizens of other EU countries to serve in the Bundeswehr to increase its size and effectiveness.
Simply put, as Deutsche Welle notes, thanks to soldiers from other EU countries, the Bundeswehr can reach its target of 170,000 professional and conscript soldiers, and also make its composition more diverse.
The German Defense Ministry assumes that residents of other EU countries are able to easily integrate into German society when necessary. As a ministry representative noted in an interview with Deutsche Welle, residents of European countries "have a similar level of education, there are minor differences between their cultures, and the German language, proficiency in which has been and remains a basic requirement for service in the Bundeswehr, is widely spoken."
However, there are many obstacles to implementing the initiative. Since the Bundeswehr was founded 61 years ago, only German citizens can serve in it. This is stipulated by the law on the legal status of military personnel, which must be amended for citizens of other EU countries to be able to serve in the Bundeswehr.
Currently, persons who are not German citizens can be accepted into the German army only in exceptional cases. According to a Defense Ministry representative, only one such case is known in the Bundeswehr armed forces: since 2014, a Romanian citizen has been serving as a military doctor. There are more such examples in the civilian sphere: 12 citizens of other EU countries are in civil service, and another 550 are civilian employees of the Bundeswehr, serving in Germany and other countries.
As Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen noted, opening the Bundeswehr to citizens of other EU countries cannot happen in the near future. She pointed out that the rules regulating the legal status of civil servants provide similar opportunities, but "there are still many questions to be answered."
In a conversation with Deutsche Welle, the ministry explained that before changing the law on the legal status of military personnel, it is first necessary to find out from European partners how they would perceive granting the opportunity to serve in the Bundeswehr. In addition, it is necessary to check what to do with reservists from other EU countries' armies and how equalization of pension rights could look. The resolution of many issues is still "only at an initial stage," the Defense Ministry noted.
The Bundestag's parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Hans-Peter Bartels, in an interview with Deutsche Welle, assessed the initiative generally positively, noting that a strong increase in the Bundeswehr's strength from citizens of other EU countries should not be expected. "First of all, this is due to the language barrier: you must, of course, speak German if you want to serve in the Bundeswehr," Bartels said. In addition, according to him, some legal issues could hinder the implementation of the idea, "since countries that themselves have an army formed by conscription will of course not be considered for recruitment into the Bundeswehr."
However, there are not many EU countries with conscription. These include Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Austria, and Cyprus.
The head of the Bundeswehr Association, André Wüstner, in turn sharply criticized the Defense Ministry's initiative, stating that the soldier's profession is different from others. In his opinion, there is a special relationship of trust between the state and the soldier, and a soldier's nationality plays a huge role for his identity, despite the existence of a common European value system.
Member of the Bundestag Defense Committee Alexander Neu criticizes that the difference in pay levels in EU countries could attract many recruits to the Bundeswehr, leading to poaching of young people from weak economies such as Romania or Bulgaria.
Meanwhile, cooperation between the Bundeswehr and the armies of other EU countries is not new. In October 1989, the Franco-German Brigade was created; in August 1995, the German-Netherlands Corps. The Eurocorps includes German, French, and Belgian soldiers, among others. In 2014, about 2,300 Dutch paratroopers were integrated into a German rapid reaction force unit.
This practice fits into the proposals presented by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Federica Mogherini, as part of a new European security and foreign policy strategy. They do not envisage the creation of a joint European army, but assume the expansion of cooperation in the defense sector within the EU, which will allow better responses to crises.