Head of German navy says ‘NATO ought to be braced for Putin assault inside 4 years’
Germany’s Chief of Defence Carsten Breuer said that Europe is threatened by Russia and Putin and thinks that NATO should be bracing for an attack from the country within four years
Germany’s top military general has warned that NATO should be braced for a possible Russian attack in as little as four years.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has changed the thinking in Germany and now General Carsten Breuer has spoken out to say that Germany needs to up the ante big time because he believes Russian aggression won’t stop at Ukraine.
General Breuer said: “We are threatened by Russia. We are threatened by Putin. We have to do whatever is needed to deter that. It’s not about how much time I need, it’s much more about how much time Putin gives us to be prepared.”
The German military, known as the Bundeswehr, has been trying to increase its ranks by 20,000 to hit a hefty 203,000 soldiers. However, it has fallen short, just like other big European players including the UK, who are all struggling to reel in new recruits.
With America’s commitment to NATO and Europe’s safety looking particularly shaky under Trump, European powers are in a mad dash to increase their defence budget.
Trump has been cosying up to Russia lately, even as Washington is deep in discussions with Moscow and Kyiv to put an end to the ongoing conflict, sparking worries that the US might be too lenient and give Putin a leg up to further his land-grabbing goals.
Speaking on Radio 4, Breuer said that the German military is short of a whopping 100,000 troops and that some sort of conscription draft is “absolutely” essential if Europe’s economic powerhouse wants to stand its ground.
He said: “We won’t get this additional 100,000 soldiers without having one or the other, a model of conscription. We don’t have to determine now what model brings them. For me it’s only important that we get the soldiers in.”
Despite Germans being quite jittery about ramping up military efforts due to their legacy, lawmakers recently gave the thumbs up for unprecedented state borrowing to boost defence and infrastructure spending. This move required tweaking Germany’s stringent fiscal rules enshrined in the constitution.
Britain could bring conscription in – but not in the same way many would assume. Speaking exclusively to the Daily Star, Marco Wyss – a Professor of International History and Security – confirmed that it could be an option for the UK . . . just in a slightly different way.
He said: “You would have to readjust the whole organization of the armed forces – I think for as long as we’re in peace time a country of the size of Britain does not need to move necessarily to conscription.
“What would potentially be interesting, however, what I could see would be more realistic would be a start introducing the kind of laws that would allow you to have conscription but then have something more of a selective conscription, so only a certain amount of people would be conscripted and largely on a voluntary basis.”
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