NATO needs 40,000 more troops from Germany to defend eastern flank
According to Reuters, which cited military sources close to the matter, the alliance will request an increase from the German defense minister.
German troops
NATO will ask Germany to provide seven more brigades, or about 40,000 troops, for the alliance's defense. Reuters advanced this information, citing three different sources with knowledge of the matter.
It will be during the next meeting of the NATO defense ministers when, according to these sources, the request to the German government will be formalized.
A senior military official who spoke to the outlet on condition of anonymity said that the target for the total number of brigades that NATO allies would have to provide in the future would rise to between 120 and 130.
This would be an increase of about 50% from the current target of about 80 brigades. At present the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, has a total of about 180,000 active uniformed personnel in its armed forces, excluding reserves.
A Defense Ministry spokesman in Berlin said he could not anticipate decisions to be made by NATO defense ministers next week and NATO leaders at a summit at the end of June.
Germany, since the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, has once again put both its military industry and its armies on alert. The country, which for years had relegated its defense to the back burner, now appears ready to renew and revitalize its military because of the Russian threat.
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