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Germany: NATIONAL SECURITY
Armed Forces Overview: Germany is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). In 1999 Germany participated in an armed conflict for the first time since World War II during NATO’s intervention in Kosovo. Previously, Germany made a token military contribution to Operation Desert Storm in 1991 (by deploying an air squadron to Turkey) but later refused to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2003. However, Germany’s military has participated in many United Nations (UN)-sanctioned peacekeeping operations, including those in Afghanistan, Djibouti, and the former Yugoslavia.
Germany’s military consists of 284,500 active-duty personnel and 358,650 reserves. The active-duty troops, who normally serve for nine months, are assigned to the various services as follows: army (191,350), navy (25,650), and air force (67,500). The reserves, who are enlisted personnel up to age 45 and commissioned and non-commissioned officers up to age 60, are assigned as follows: army (297,300), navy (11,500), and air force (49,850).
Reflecting the realities of the post-Cold War era, Germany’s military is moving away from territorial defense toward readiness to participate in multilateral operations under the aegis of the UN, NATO, European Union, and Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. This new vision for the military is articulated in an official document issued in May 2003 called Defense Policy Guidelines. As part of this transformation, troop strength will be reduced by about 35,000 to about 250,000.
Foreign Military Relations: Under the doctrine introduced by the 2003 Defense Policy Guidelines, Germany continues to give priority to the transatlantic partnership with the United States through the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. However, Germany is giving increasing attention to coordinating its policies with the European Union through the Common European Security and Defense Policy.
External Threat: According to former German Defense Minister Peter Struck, Germany does not face a conventional threat to its territory. In his own words, “At present, and in the foreseeable future, a conventional threat to the German territory is not recognizable.”
Defense Budget: In 2003 Germany’s defense budget totaled US$35 billion, or 1.5 percent of gross domestic product. Germany’s defense minister advocates a US$30 billion cut in defense expenditures over a five to seven-year period, in keeping with the military’s transformation into an international peacekeeping and intervention force.
Major Military Units: Germany’s army command consists of a Germany/Netherlands headquarters corps, a Germany/United States headquarters corps, five divisions (including two armored infantry), one air-mobile division, one special operations division, one support command (forming), one SIGINT/ELINT brigade, and two logistics brigades. The navy is organized into submarine, frigate, patrol boat, mine countermeasures, and naval aviation commands. The air force command consists of four air divisions, eight fighter wings, one reconnaissance wing, six surface-to-air missile wings, and two tactical air control regiments. The air force also has a transport command and training forces.
Major Military Equipment: Germany’s army is equipped with 2,398 main battle tanks, 523 reconnaissance vehicles, 2,122 armored infantry fighting vehicles, and 909 armored personnel carriers. In addition, the army has 1,682 artillery pieces, 1,915 antitank guided weapons, 1,509 air defense guns, 143 surface-to-air missiles, 18 surveillance vehicles, 525 attack and support helicopters, and various unmanned aerial vehicles. The navy is equipped with 12 submarines, 13 principal surface combatants, 20 patrol and coastal combatants, 23 mine warfare vessels, 38 support vessels, 20 special purpose vessels, and 4 research and survey vessels. Naval aviation has 65 combat aircraft and 22 armed helicopters. The air force is equipped with 384 combat aircraft but no combat helicopters.
Military Service: Germany has nine months of compulsory military service for men at age 18.
Paramilitary Forces: In May 2005, the paramilitary German Federal Border Guard was renamed the “Federal Police” to reflect new responsibilities for domestic security that combine law enforcement and intelligence. The organization not only is responsible for protecting the country’s borders but also participates in United Nations peacekeeping missions and supports intelligence-gathering activities. Border Security Troop 9 is a special unit that was created for preventing hostage incidents, assassinations, and organized crime. Former German Foreign Minister Hans-Dietrich Genscher established the unit after the terrorist attack on Israeli athletes at the Olympic Games in Munich in 1972.
Foreign Military Forces: Several foreign militaries are stationed in Germany under the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) umbrella. They include 69,790 U.S. troops, 22,000 British troops, 3,200 French troops, and 2,600 Dutch troops.
Military Forces Abroad: In recent years, Germany has deployed troops to several multinational peacekeeping operations, including those in Afghanistan, Bosnia, Djibouti, Montenegro, Sierra Leone, and Uzbekistan. The largest contingents were in Montenegro and Afghanistan.
Police: The states are responsible for managing Germany’s police, which are divided into the following units: the general police (for crime prevention and response), the emergency police (for natural disasters and major accidents), and the water police (for waterways). The public prosecutor’s office is responsible for handling criminal prosecutions, and the general police are subordinate to it. The Federal Border Guard is a national police force that has jurisdiction over security on the borders, on the railroads, and at airports. Despite isolated reports of abuses of police detainees, Germany’s police generally respect individual human rights.
Internal Threat: At the end of 2004, Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution identified 24 Islamic organizations operating in Germany that pose a security risk or promote extremism. Members and followers of these organizations total approximately 31,800, about 1 percent of Muslims living in Germany. The Turkish organization Islamic Society Milli Görüs has the largest following, numbering 26,500. However, only a small hard core of fanatics is considered to be capable of terrorism. The primary targets are believed to be American, British, Israeli, and Jewish facilities, although the facilities of other nations also are endangered. Potential targets include embassies, consulates, nuclear power plants, dams, airports, sewage plants, subways, skyscrapers, sports stadiums, and churches, according to the former interior minister. The fact that Germany refused to participate in Operation Iraqi Freedom may mitigate the risk of terrorism by extremist Islamic groups somewhat. However, German authorities are not complacent.
Germany also faces an internal threat from right-wing and left-wing extremists. At the end of 2004, there were 168 right-wing extremist organizations with 40,700 members, according to the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution. Neo-Nazis totaled about 3,800. A hard core of right-wing extremists capable of violence is estimated at about 10,000. Three political parties are associated with right-wing extremism: the Republicans, the German People’s Union, and the National Democratic Party of Germany. The far-right German People’s Union holds six seats in the Brandenburg state parliament and one seat in the Bremen state parliament. At the end of 2004, the far left, which has revolutionary Marxist and anarchist factions, had about 30,800 adherents. Only about 1,000 out of 65,800 members of the Party of Democratic Socialism support a communist platform. Approximately 5,500 far-left extremists are deemed to be capable of violence.
Terrorism: Following al Qaeda’s September 11, 2001, terrorist attack against the United States, Germans were surprised to learn that the mastermind of the strike and several accomplices previously had been living in Hamburg. Since then, Germany has been a reliable partner in the United States-led war on terrorism, according to the U.S. Department of State. German courts have a very high standard of proof, which has made it difficult for authorities to convict or deport terrorist suspects. In February 2003, a Hamburg court convicted Mounir el Motassadeq of aiding and abetting the conspiracy and sentenced him to the maximum available term of 15 years. However, in March 2004, the German supreme court overturned this conviction, which was the first in the world related to the 9/11 incident, for lack of evidence and remanded the case for retrial. Finally, in August 2005, a Hamburg court re-convicted el Motassadeq and sentenced him to a seven-year prison term. In another case, years of procedural maneuvers were required before the German judicial system finally succeeded in October 2004 in deporting an Islamic extremist, the so-called “caliph of Cologne,” to Turkey. In yet another case, in July 2005 a Syrian-German terrorist suspect was released from custody after the German supreme court ruled that he could not be extradited to Spain under a European Union arrest warrant because this step would violate Germany’s Basic Law.
Human Rights: Fundamental human rights are enshrined in Germany’s Basic Law, or constitution. These rights encompass the freedoms of speech and the press, the right of equality before the law, and the right of asylum. Freedom of speech is not universal. Statements promoting racial hatred or Nazism are prohibited, as are statements denying the Holocaust. Efforts to enforce these bans extend to all modes of communication, including CDs and the Internet.
Although Germany endorses religious freedom and the separation of church and state, majority religions, such as Protestantism and Catholicism, enjoy a privileged status. In fact, the government recognizes them as legal corporations and collects taxes for them. Some minority religions fare less well. For example, the government views the Church of Scientology as a cult and a threat to democracy rather than as a legitimate religion and openly discriminates against its members. For similar reasons, Reverend Sun Myung Moon of the Unification Church has been denied entry to the country. Several states have banned the wearing of Islamic headscarves in the public schools, and a federal court has upheld the ban on appeal.
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