Politico: Europe’s soldiers keep quitting, just when NATO needs them
Kyiv • UNN
Western allies are trying to solve the problem of retaining existing military personnel in their armies.
In Europe, the issue of troop maintenance is emerging - it is no longer so much about recruiting new soldiers as it is about convincing those who are there not to resign. Western allies are weighing the issue of conscription or national service. This is stated in an article by Politico, published on March 18, according to UNN.
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This week, French Defense Minister Sébastien Lecornu presented a talent retention plan to encourage military personnel to stay in uniform.
This comes a few days after an annual report submitted to the German parliament showed that in 2023, some 1,537 soldiers left the Bundeswehr, reducing its strength to 181,514.
"These conversations are now taking place in all capitals, in all democratic countries that have professional armies without conscription," Lecornu said on Monday, mentioning the United Kingdom and the United States.
"At NATO meetings, we can talk about equipment, but now we are also talking about ... retention rates," he added.
While Europe is rearming in response to the war in Ukraine, countries like Croatia are considering reintroducing conscription. Others, such as Denmark, plan to expand it to include women. Germany abolished conscription in 2011, but as many soldiers are getting older, there has been renewed discussion about reintroducing some sort of national service system.
For countries that rely on professional armies, the challenge is to make the armed forces attractive, which is difficult to do in times of low unemployment, fierce competition from the private sector, and widespread use of remote work.
In France, soldiers remain in the armed forces for an average of one year less than before. In the United Kingdom, the annual shortage of personnel is 1,100 soldiers, equivalent to two infantry battalions, although the government has contracted the recruitment of personnel to the private firm Capita.
Money, the publication points out, does play a role in making people stay. One of the main measures of the French plan is to increase pensions by integrating bonuses; salaries are also being raised. But the problem is that the conditions of service are not so attractive: chronic overtime, months-long absences from home, and missed recovery periods are commonplace.
"The problem is not recruitment, it's retention, we also have to support families," Admiral Lisa Franchetti, the head of U.S. naval operations, said at a conference in Paris earlier this year.
In Poland, the new government earlier this year announced a pay increase of about 20 percent in an effort to retain troops. The minimum monthly salary of a soldier will increase from 4960 zlotys (1150 euros) to 6000 zlotys. In response to the growing threat from Russia, the size of the Polish armed forces has increased from 95,000 in 2015 to 215,000 this year.
The French plan includes assistance in finding housing, access to healthcare and childcare. Couples who both work in the Ministry of the Armed Forces, even if one of them is a civilian, will be able to change positions together.
"I prefer to hire fewer people to improve retention than to continue recruiting, during which the number of people who are retained is constantly falling," Lecorneuil said.
In Germany, as part of its efforts to strengthen national defense, the government wants to increase the size of its armed forces to 203,000 by the early 2030s, but recruitment is growing very slowly.
Bundestag Special Commissioner for the Armed Forces Eva Högl said that reintroducing some forms of conscription is one way to change the situation, but targeting women is a more obvious step to halt the decline, as the potential for conscription is "far from exhausted," the lawmaker said.
Legislation passed last year aims to make conditions more attractive, including increased support for childcare and increased old-age pensions.
There are problems not only with time, but also with basic infrastructure. "When I visit the troops, I no longer hear that helmets and protective vests are missing, but only lockers," Högl wrote in her annual report.
According to Högl, the repair of barracks and military facilities will cost about 50 billion euros, which is equivalent to half of the total special fund created by the government to rebuild the country's armed forces after Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
