Many Europeans get chills when they read the German military strategy, Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday in response to the new national military strategy presented by Berlin. TASR informs about it based on the report of the TASS agency.
“I think Europeans probably get chills when they read these lines and learn about these plans,” commented the spokesman of the Kremlin for the TV news program Vesti reports about the German strategy, which describes Russia as a threat and talks about the creation of the strongest army in Europe.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius unveiled a new national military strategy on Wednesday as Berlin responds to the growing threat from Russia. The plan includes a military strategy and analysis of the capabilities of the German army (Bundeswehr), which sets out the composition, structure and size of the armed forces.
The German armed forces are undergoing a rearmament program as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, while the country reintroduced voluntary military service in January in order to increase the number of soldiers. Although the details of the strategy are classified, the minister said the plans envisage “transforming the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional army in Europe”. According to Russian media, this should happen by 2039.
“The main thing is that Germany, because of its plans to create the strongest army on the European stage, does not get into the same situation in which it has already found itself several times in history,” the Kremlin spokesman noted in this regard for Russian television.
The minister did not rule out the introduction of compulsory military service
Germany’s goal of reaching the level of 460,000 soldiers in active service and in reserve is not a final ceiling and could be exceeded if necessary. Pistorius said on Wednesday. TASR informs about it according to the report of the DPA agency.
The figure is “not a ceiling” but rather “the direction we are going”, Pistorius told public broadcaster ARD, adding that the number of troops could increase in response to changing requirements or a deteriorating security situation.
He pointed to progress in increasing the number of military personnel. Since he took office, the number of active-duty troops has increased from about 180,000 to roughly 185,000 to 186,000, while the number of enlistments and recruits continues to grow, stated.
Pistorius did not rule out the reintroduction of compulsory military service if voluntary measures prove insufficient. In that case, “we will have to discuss and decide on mandatory regulations,” he said. However, he immediately added that such a step is not currently being considered. For now, the priority is to achieve the set goal using existing measures, Pistorius said.
