According to the Agenzia Nova, the defense minister, Ursula von der Leyen, intends to allow enrollment in the armed forces of Germany, "especially to Italians, Poles and Romanians". Among the young people in these countries, according to the German Defense Ministry document, there is "a potential quantity" for the Bundeswehr. According to the calculations of the dicastery, today in Germany live "about 255 thousand Poles, 185 thousand Italians and 155 thousand Romanians between 18 and 40 years of age". In total, the three groups make up "about half of EU citizens living in Germany". For the German defense ministry, "if at least 10 per cent of this set showed interest in the Bundeswehr, more than 50 thousand applications for enlistment could result". In fact, the lack of military personnel has led von der Leyen to propose in the White Paper for the defense of 2016 the opening of enlistment in the Bundeswehr to foreigners. The plans to translate this project into a concrete reality were completed last August.
According to what was learned by "Der Spiegel", EU citizens could be enrolled in every department of the Bundeswehr. Therefore, the statements made today by the Bundeswehr general inspector, General Eberhard Zorn, according to which the German Armed Forces are considering recruiting EU citizens only as specialists, such as doctors or information technology experts, would be denied.
In any case, the German Ministry of Defense intends to limit the enlistment of foreigners with EU citizenship "to young people who have lived in Germany for several years and speak fluent German".
In fact, Von der Leyen wants to avoid talking about an army of mercenaries and not to intimidate those European countries that could see their young people emigrate to Germany to enlist, attracted by higher salaries and better conditions of employment in the Armed Forces.
This outcome is feared in particular by the countries of Eastern Europe, according to reports by German military officials who have probed European governments about the von der Leyen project. In Poland, Foreign Minister Jacek Czaputowicz said that "military service is closely linked to nationality.
The Polish government has requested clarification from Germany at the European level. For Czaputowicz, in fact, changing the recruitment criteria in the Bundeswehr without consulting the EU "would not be appropriate behavior". Moreover, the Polish Foreign Minister continued, if Germany implemented the initiative without first consulting Poland, "it would not be positive", because the German Armed Forces can "offer more" to the military.
Concerns similar to those of Poland were manifested by Bulgaria. In particular, the Sofia government has communicated to Germany that its Armed Forces are missing 20 per cent of the required personnel. If the German Armed Forces were to open up to European citizens, offering "significantly better wages, the consequences for Bulgaria would be catastrophic", the Sofia authorities said. Similarly, concludes "Der Spiegel", Greece fears that its young people can emigrate to Germany to enlist.