Bundeswehr to stop personnel decline
German Defence Minister Ursula von der Leyen has announced an end to the downward trend in Bundeswehr personnel strength since the end of the Cold War.
The decision has been taken to increase numbers in the face of a larger number of foreign deployments and military involvement in the refugee crisis. On 10 May, she announced in Berlin ‘that a quarter of a century of shrinking of the Bundeswehr is over’ adding, ‘it is time for the Bundeswehr to grow again’.
Von der Leyen said the Bundeswehr would grow by some 7,000 soldiers and 4,400 civilians by 2023. Existing numbers
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