NATO Urges Germany to Boost Military Forces

(MENAFN) NATO is urging Germany to make substantial expansions to its military forces, as reported by a news outlet on Saturday, citing insider sources.

Officials in Berlin are said to be concerned that the country, already struggling with high dropout rates, may find it difficult to meet the proposed goals.

As NATO member nations prepare for the July summit in The Hague, the agenda is expected to focus heavily on increasing national defense spending to 5 percent of GDP, a target that the United States is said to strongly support, as well as boosting troop numbers.

Germany, however, is facing "particular challenges," including a proposal to increase the Bundeswehr's personnel to between 240,000 and 260,000 soldiers by 2030.

This represents an increase of up to 80,000 troops from the current figure of about 183,000, according to the news outlet.

The difficulties in expanding the military are compounded by high dropout rates among new recruits, with up to 30 percent of them leaving within the first six months of service, the newspaper reports.

Contributing factors to this high attrition include tough training, remote deployments, and limited career advancement opportunities.

Many potential soldiers are reportedly more attracted to private sector careers.

Additionally, some branches of the military are said to be reluctant to accept soldiers who have been trained in different divisions.

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