German defence forces purge extremist elements from ranks
The German Ministry of Defence surprised the public by admitting to the dismissal of 62 soldiers who exhibited racist and extremist behaviours. As revealed by the head of the department, 94 candidates wanting to join the army were also rejected for the same reason.
The German army faced a wave of right-wing extremism in its ranks last year, dismissing 62 soldiers for racist and extremist behaviours, according to information from the Ministry of Defence conveyed by the RND portal. The news of the dismissals quickly caused quite a stir in the German media.
Decisions to dismiss were the result, among other things, of soldiers making racist or right-wing extremist comments. These were directed towards their colleagues. Much was also said about the public support shown by some soldiers for the radically right-wing movement known as the Reich Citizens.
Additionally, in 2023, 94 candidates were rejected from the army recruitment process due to doubts about their loyalty to the constitution – the Ministry of Defence reported in response to an inquiry by the Left parliamentary group in the Bundestag.
German army dismisses soldiers
The Bundeswehr also received 205 reports concerning incidents of a right-wing extremist, racist or anti-Semitic nature. According to ministry data, these incidents were briefly described.
As reported by the RND portal, among the dismissed soldiers were those who directed racist remarks towards other members of the army and individuals who publicly expressed support for the radically right-wing Reich Citizens movement.
Currently, the Bundeswehr consists of over 180,000 soldiers and employs over 80,000 civilian workers. Like in other areas of life, there has been a notable increase in cases of displaying extremist views within the military.
