The German armed forces (Bundeswehr) need 35,000 more military personnel to meet NATO's new defense requirements, the chairman of the parliamentary defense committee, Markus Faber, said today, quoted by DPA, writes BTA.
Joining calls for a stronger German army amid the growing threat from Russia, the head of the Bundestag defense committee backed plans to increase the number of German combat brigades in NATO structures from 82 to 131 from 2031.< /p>
In this situation, instead of three divisions with 65,000 soldiers, the German army will need five divisions and about 100,000 soldiers respectively, Faber told the German media group "Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland" - ERND (Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland/RND).
"This will take us about ten years," said the parliamentarian, calling for Germany's annual military spending to be increased from 2 percent (which is the NATO recommendation) to 3 percent of the country's gross domestic product.
At the moment, the personnel of the German army amounts to 180,000 servicemen, DPA notes.
German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has repeatedly called for a significant increase in defense spending, while making it clear that the Bundeswehr needs more personnel.