In the past five years, the German army, the Bundeswehr, has recruited a total of 7,681 people younger than 18, which the hard-left Die Linke party described as the “militarisation of minors”.
In 2023, the German army recruited 18,800 soldiers, 1,996 of them minors, the highest ever number. In 2022, the figure stood at 1,773.
More than half of the 17-year-olds who joined in 2023 came of age within six months of taking up their duties.
Voluntary service in the army is permissible from the age of 17, if parents give their consent. Those recruits can start such military service or training as temporary soldiers under strict conditions.
Die Linke has criticised the recruitment of minors, according to a July 25 report by Nova.news. The issue came up in a request regarding the number of 17-year-old recruits from the party in the Bundestag, the German Parliament.
Die Linke education policy spokeswoman of Nicole Gohlke told German press agency DPA: “The federal government seems to have completely given up the protection of minors from militarisation.”
In 2023, army youth officers gave a total of 3,460 lectures at schools and universities, reaching around 90,000 pupils and students, DPA reported.
Gohlke denounced that, saying schools must be a politically neutral, safe places and that such political education must be independent and age-appropriate.
“The recruitment of minors for the Bundeswehr, especially in schools, is unacceptable,” she said.
Gohlke claimed the government was “cutting back on the education of young people – but they are good enough for war missions”.
Die "Zeitenwende" der Ampel bedeutet auch die zunehmende Ausbildung Minderjähriger an der Waffe:
2019: 1.705
2020: 1.148
2021: 1.239
2022: 1.773
2023: 1.996Die Rekrutierung Minderjähriger für die Bundeswehr, gerade auch an Schulen, ist inakzeptabel.
— Nicole Gohlke (@NicoleGohlke) July 25, 2024
The German defence ministry has rejected the accusation of militarisation in connection to youth officers.
“The youth officers do not recruit young people,” its annual report stated. The army does send out career advisors, who are meant to provide information about basic military and security policy issues and about deployments. They only visit schools upon invitation, it added.
In mid-July this year, 85 of 94 posts for youth officers had been filled.
The army argued that if potential recruits had to wait until their 18th birthday to begin military training, they would be at a competitive disadvantage compared to their peers entering civilian careers at the same age.
That delay could also impact the military’s ability to attract and retain talented individuals, as well as affect the overall readiness and experience level of its personnel, it said.
The 17-year-old soldiers would not be sent into armed conflicts and would use firearms only for training purposes.
On its website, the army said that with its provisions, the Federal Republic of Germany adhered to its obligations under international laws such as the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child of 1989.
Ammunition production across the European Union has been vastly overstated, a recent report has found.
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