Germany to cut military by 30,000
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Germany will reduce the size of its military by 30,000, or nearly one-tenth, by 2010 as part of a streamlining and modernization effort, the government announced.
Defense Minister Peter Struck said Thursday the Bundeswehr would be trimmed by 30,000, with 250,000 servicemen and servicewomen remaining in place.
He cited Germany's hard-pressed public finances and the need to adapt the military to reflect the nation's current security needs. Already, the military is in the midst of a long-term overhaul aimed at cutting spending and switching its focus from the Cold War task of fending off attack from the Soviet Union to duties such as peacekeeping and crisis management.
Under the new cuts, its civilian work force will be reduced by 45,000 to 75,000. Struck also said 100 military facilities -- out of a total 530 -- will be closed down.
The German military's chief of staff, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, is to draw up details of the cuts by the end of this year, Struck said, with a decision expected at the end of 2004 on what facilities will be closed.
Germany currently has some 10,000 troops deployed in missions abroad, ranging from peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans to patrolling shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa as part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
The United States has long pressed Germany and other European countries to lift defense spending, even before the September 11 attacks. But Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government is troubled by near-zero growth and a budget deficit that this year, for the second year running, is set to break a limit imposed by the European Union.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html
BERLIN, Germany (AP) -- Germany will reduce the size of its military by 30,000, or nearly one-tenth, by 2010 as part of a streamlining and modernization effort, the government announced.
Defense Minister Peter Struck said Thursday the Bundeswehr would be trimmed by 30,000, with 250,000 servicemen and servicewomen remaining in place.
He cited Germany's hard-pressed public finances and the need to adapt the military to reflect the nation's current security needs. Already, the military is in the midst of a long-term overhaul aimed at cutting spending and switching its focus from the Cold War task of fending off attack from the Soviet Union to duties such as peacekeeping and crisis management.
Under the new cuts, its civilian work force will be reduced by 45,000 to 75,000. Struck also said 100 military facilities -- out of a total 530 -- will be closed down.
The German military's chief of staff, Wolfgang Schneiderhan, is to draw up details of the cuts by the end of this year, Struck said, with a decision expected at the end of 2004 on what facilities will be closed.
Germany currently has some 10,000 troops deployed in missions abroad, ranging from peacekeeping missions in Afghanistan and the Balkans to patrolling shipping lanes off the Horn of Africa as part of the U.S.-led war against terrorism.
The United States has long pressed Germany and other European countries to lift defense spending, even before the September 11 attacks. But Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's government is troubled by near-zero growth and a budget deficit that this year, for the second year running, is set to break a limit imposed by the European Union.
http://www.cnn.com/2003/WORLD/europe....ap/index.html
Comment