Threat of Russia
CDU wants to use former NVA soldiers for national defense
Hundreds of thousands in East Germany served at the NVA. In an emergency, however, they cannot help the Bundeswehr; They are not reservists. That could change.
The risk of war grows, the Bundeswehr’s shortage of staff is great. 35 years after reunification, there is therefore more discussion than ever to integrate former soldiers of the National People’s Army (NVA) of the GDR into the German armed forces. They should be able to help as reservists with national defense.
This is now proposing a prominent member of the CDU for the first time. “It is time to use the soldiers of the NVA soldiers who volunteer to protect our freedom,” Sepp Müller told the star. Müller is the deputy chairman of the Union faction, who comes from Saxony-Anhalt and is responsible for East Germany.
The Bundeswehr currently has much fewer reservists than necessary
A background to his claim: The Bundeswehr needs 200,000 reservists who are quickly ready for use in the event of a defense. The Bundeswehr Association even demands a reserve of up to one million men and women. Just like once during the Cold War. “At the moment there are only 51,000 reservists,” says Müller.
So far, the legal situation has been clear for former NVA members: in principle, they must not be used as reservists. This has already been determined with the unification contract. An exception applies if they were continued in the Bundeswehr after reunification. At that time, this only met for around 18,000 of the more than 170,000 NVA soldiers. The rest was sorted out.
The military service of the GDR is therefore just as worthless today as the old Ostmark. The reason for this is, among other things, that the NVA was once very deliberately dissolved and that the men were not sworn in at the Basic Law at the time, but on the defense of the GDR, “at the side of the Soviet Army”.
Unionmann Müller says: “I would like extracurse for training as a homeland.” These should take into account that the ex-NVA people were already subject to conscripts. In the end, the vow would be on the Basic Law. “We celebrate 35 years victory of freedom over the lack of freedom,” says Müller. “For a long time, our freedom was no longer as threatened as it is up to date.”
Since military service in the GDR was mandatory, the regulation could affect several hundred thousand men between the ages of 50 and 65. These could then take part in reserve exercises and be used for home protection regiments. In an emergency, you would make sure that combat troops come to the scene and sensitive infrastructure is protected.
It is the first time that a prominent politician of a government party raises this demand. In the past, politicians from the Left Party in particular had promoted this. Most recently, the former left-wing parliamentary group leader Dietmar Bartsch had raised this demand.
In view of the threat of Russia, the Bundeswehr is expected to grow from around 182,000 to 260,000 active soldiers. In addition, there should also be those 200,000 reservists, the number of which is to be increased primarily with the new military service based on voluntariness. Some home protection regiments have recently also trained “impedents”, i.e. people without prior contact points to the Bundeswehr.
And maybe even former GDR soldiers will soon defend the Federal Republic.
Source: Stern
I have been working in the news industry for over 6 years, first as a reporter and now as an editor. I have covered politics extensively, and my work has appeared in major newspapers and online news outlets around the world. In addition to my writing, I also contribute regularly to 24 Hours World.
