Europe must rearm, enter into the perspective of a “war economy”, and even prepare for a possible conflict with Russia in the medium term. This is what the new “official” European language wants, after the war in Ukraine took a turn that was anything but encouraging, Putin also eliminated Alexei Navalny and no longer hides his desire to continue his offensive, if and when kyiv falls. Very good, or maybe not. But an investigation carried out today reveals a very problematic concrete aspect for the implementation of these plans. Policy, which explains that in reality, for many European armies, the problem today is keeping soldiers in the ranks. Other than expanding forces. In Germany, one of the countries with theoretically the greatest potential for expanding its forces, more than 1,500 soldiers left the army last year. Bundeswehr, reducing the workforce to 181,514 men, highlighted a few days ago in a report presented to Parliament. A problem quite similar to that of the French army, in which soldiers now stay on average one year less than before. While in the United Kingdom the government had to turn to a private company provider to fill the annual shortage of more than a thousand recruits. The problem actually concerns “all democracies which have professional armies without conscription, we often talk about it in NATO meetings”, recognized yesterday the French Minister of Defense Sébastien Lecornu, presenting his project of “retention of talents” in uniform.
For honor and glory?
The fact is that in the absence of compulsory military service – which has been abolished in most European countries for years – the incentives to enlist and then stay in the military are often insufficient. The average lack of attractiveness of Europeans for this type of “mission” probably has something to do with it, of course, but also with much more concrete considerations. The work of a soldier obviously involves high risks for his own safety and therefore for that of his family, and even in the absence of “real” wars to fight, long missions far from home, relative periods of recovery often not respected, chronic illnesses. over time . And in the face of all this, salaries are not up to par. This is why several European governments are now taking cover to give substance – literally – to promises of military reinforcement. In Poland, a country which feels “at the forefront” of the confrontation with Putin's Russia, the new government led by Donald Tusk announced a 20% salary increase to prevent the flight of soldiers: the salary of departure will increase from 4,960 zloty (approximately 1,150 euros) to 6,000 zloty (approximately 1,390 euros). The same is true in France, where the plan presented by Lecornu provides for an increase not only in salaries but also in future pensions via additional bonuses, as well as incentives for finding housing and access to housing services. health and childcare and the promise of joint transfers. in the case of couples where both members work for the army or the relevant ministry.
The elephant in the room
Will this be enough? Maybe. But if this were not the case, more “radical” solutions are already appearing on the European scene. Denmark announced a few days ago a plan to also extend compulsory military service to women and extend its duration for everyone. But it could be an intermediate measure before what will soon be necessary: the reintroduction of conscription systems. Croatia is thinking about it, and so is Germany itself, as Bundestag Special Commissioner Eva Högl openly declared. The idea remains at the level of ministerial discussions for the moment, but it is not certain that it will not become a reality in certain European countries by 2024. Is it Italy? For the moment, the main innovation announced by Minister Guido Crosetto is the creation of a reserve of around 10 thousand volunteers capable of supplementing the forces of the regular army. Crosetto has explicitly ruled out the reintroduction of compulsory military service in recent months. Until proven otherwise, at least.
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