""the strongest conventional army in Europe""
""lazy compromise""
"In 30 years in parliament, I have never seen a minister torpedo an important bill and plunge his own MPs into chaos like this,"
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has tasked Defence Minister Boris Pistorius with boosting recruitment to build the strongest conventional army in Europe in response to the threat from Russia. Merz's CDU/CSU has advocated a draft lottery if necessary, while Pistorius prefers a voluntary approach and calls a draft lottery a "lazy compromise" that would be too time-consuming. NATO targets require 460,000 total troops, but the Bundeswehr currently fields about 182,000 active soldiers and 49,000 reservists. Pistorius seeks to attract volunteers through better pay and benefits such as free driving licences and technical training, prompting anger within the coalition and criticism from senior CDU figures.
Read at The Local Germany
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