The German Ministry of Defence has reported increased vigilance regarding extremist tendencies within the Bundeswehr (German Armed Forces). A ministry spokesperson stated in Berlin on Friday that there is “a significantly heightened awareness” of such issues amongst personnel.
The spokesperson also emphasized that all commanding officers understand that minimizing or ignoring extremist aspirations within the armed forces will not be tolerated. Reference was made to a report from the Coordination Centre for Extremism Suspicions (KfE), which is expected to be published “presumably next week.
The planned downgrading of security vetting for new recruits is being justified by Minister Boris Pistorius’s ministry with the claim that these checks have frequently taken too long to complete. However the ministry insists this does not represent a weakening of security procedures. The spokesperson clarified that the move is “essentially about efficiency and, above all, speed” in response to questions from the dts news agency.
