NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte praised the agreement reached on military service in Germany during a visit to an alliance base in Geilenkirchen, near the Dutch border, DPA reports, quoted by BTA.
“Each country decides for itself how to recruit enough men and women for its army, but I am very happy to hear that the coalition in Germany has already agreed on the way forward, and that is extremely important“, Rutte said.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition has reached a compromise on the introduction of a new model for voluntary military service, which also provides for conscription if not enough volunteers sign up, in order to fill the ranks of the Bundeswehr.
North Rhine-Westphalia Premier Hendrik Wust, accompanying Rutte, noted that the army needed more soldiers. "It is right that the federal government is now resolutely pursuing this goal," he said.
Rutte described the AWACS aircraft based in Geilenkirchen as "NATO's eyes in the sky." They are converted "Boeing 707s" with large, mushroom-shaped radar devices that allow early detection and identification of aircraft at a distance of more than 400 kilometers.
Wust added that Russia had carried out deliberate provocations and violations of NATO airspace in recent months. "This is unacceptable. "Our defense capabilities, including early detection and warning, are indispensable in this new world of chaos," he stressed. "The backbone of NATO's air and maritime surveillance is here in North Rhine-Westphalia," Wust added.