{"id":2402350,"date":"2025-02-13T14:06:01","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T19:06:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/german-military-less-battle-ready-than-when-russia-ukraine-war-began\/"},"modified":"2025-02-13T14:09:34","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T19:09:34","slug":"german-military-less-battle-ready-than-when-russia-ukraine-war-began","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/german-military-less-battle-ready-than-when-russia-ukraine-war-began\/","title":{"rendered":"German military less battle-ready than when Russia-Ukraine war began"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fgerman-military-less-battle-ready-than-when-russia-ukraine-war-began%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2402350&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>Germany&#8217;s military preparedness has\u2064 deteriorated since the onset of the Russia-Ukraine war \u200bin February 2022, with\u200c current readiness levels reported at around 50%, a decline from the previously reported 65% readiness\u200d of eight brigades. Colonel Andre\u200c Wuestner, head of \u2064the Armed Forces Association, highlighted that the supply of defence resources to Ukraine has strained Germany&#8217;s already weakened\u2063 military capabilities.<\/p>\n<p>Amidst national concerns \u2064regarding defense in light of upcoming elections on February 23, German chancellor Olaf Scholz&#8217;s initial promises to overhaul the military \u2062following the invasion,\u200c including a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/doug-burgum-allied-pac-reaches-15-million-in-spending-amid-failing-poll-numbers\/\" title=\"Doug Burgum-aligned PAC spends M as poll numbers decline.\">substantial financial investment<\/a> of \u200d$104\u2064 billion, have not materialized \u2062effectively. Scholz proclaimed\u2064 a commitment to enhance NATO&#8217;s European\u200d role, yet a lack of genuine commitment, financial difficulties, and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/activists-push-new-initiative-to-clear-homeless-encampments-in-seattle\/\" title=\"Activists push new initiative to clear homeless encampments in Seattle\">political infighting<\/a> have hindered progress. <\/p>\n<p>The\u2062 German Council on Foreign Relations recently criticized Scholz&#8217;s \u200c&#8221;Zeitenwende&#8221; initiative,\u2063 stating it no\u200d <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">longer holds political weight<\/a>. Scholz&#8217;s \u200dleftist \u2063coalition government collapsed in December 2024 due to internal conflicts and declining \u2062public confidence, leading to\u200b an election where the conservative Christian Democratic Union is\u200b expected to\u2064 perform well. \u200dCDU leader Friedrich Merz advocates for a reformed \u2062military production system across Europe,emphasizing efficiency and quality \u2063in \u2064defense equipment to match U.S. standards. Meanwhile, the far-right Alternative for Germany party\u2063 is also gaining traction with notable \u200cpublic\u200d support.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<p><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><?xml encoding=\"utf-8\" ?><\/p>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-header-search-button-mob dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><span class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-button\"><i class=\"tdb-mobile-menu-icon td-icon-mobile\"><\/i><\/span><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search\" aria-labelledby=\"td-header-search-button\">\n<div class=\"tdb-drop-down-search-inner\">\n<form method=\"get\" class=\"tdb-search-form\" action=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\"><\/form>\n<div class=\"tdb-aj-search\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/#\" role=\"button\" aria-label=\"Search\" class=\"tdb-head-search-btn dropdown-toggle\" data-toggle=\"dropdown\"><i class=\"tdb-search-icon td-icon-search\"><\/i><\/a><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<h1 class=\"tdb-title-text\">German military is less battle-ready than when Russia-Ukraine war began<\/h1>\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-title-line\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\">\n<div id=\"Brid_1922352\" class=\"tpd-featured-video bridtv\"><\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/germany\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Germany<\/a> finds itself less prepared for warfare than when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/russia\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Russia<\/a> invaded Ukraine in February 2022.<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-paywall\">\n<p>Armed Forces Association head Col. Andre Wuestner <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/50-battle-ready-germany-misses-military-targets-despite-scholzs-overhaul-2025-02-13\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">told <em>Reuters<\/em><\/a>  in an interview this week that shipping defense resources to the front lines of Ukraine has depleted their already crippled military.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Before Russia&rsquo;s invasion of Ukraine, we had eight brigades at around 65% readiness,&rdquo; Wuestner said, pointing out that now, &ldquo;German land forces are down to a readiness of around 50%.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>It&rsquo;s a grim assessment of the exiting government when national defense is among the country&rsquo;s top concerns in the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3291509\/four-global-elections-to-watch-in-2025\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\"> Feb. 23 election<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">German Chancellor Olaf Scholz addresses a media conference at the end of an EU summit in Brussels on Thursday, Dec. 19, 2024. (AP Photo\/Omar Havana)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Overhauling the military was a key promise of German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, outlined in his <em>Zeitenwende<\/em> speech, or &ldquo;Turning Point&rdquo; in English, immediately following the Russian invasion.<\/p>\n<p>The chancellor proclaimed a new era of German strength through increasing domestic readiness while bolstering the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/tag\/nato\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">nation&rsquo;s influence in NATO<\/a>. This included a $104 billion fund for revitalization efforts, including the outfitting of tens of thousands of troops for a new NATO division.<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We need to strengthen the European part of NATO and further increase defense spending,&rdquo; Scholz proclaimed as recently as last month alongside NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte.<\/p>\n<p>But a lack of sincere passion for the project, coupled with financial woes and other obstacles, has left the revitalization of the German military dead in the water despite the government&rsquo;s refusal to recognize the matter.<\/p>\n<p>The <a href=\"https:\/\/dgap.org\/en\/research\/publications\/end-zeitenwende\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">German Council on Foreign Relations declared<\/a> in August that Scholz&rsquo;s <em>Zeitenwende<\/em> &ldquo;no longer carries political force and should be abandoned as a term of use.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;Overall, Germany is not living up to Chancellor Scholz&rsquo;s promised &lsquo;special responsibility&rsquo; for Europe&rsquo;s success and for European security,&rdquo; the foreign affairs think tank said. &ldquo;Too often, Germany has assumed a right to lead, while in fact failing to do so &mdash; and also failing to follow the lead of others who have a strategy that is appropriate to the geopolitical situation.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Scholz&rsquo;s left-wing government collapsed in December 2024 amid insurmountable infighting and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3311785\/germans-disapprove-olaf-scholz-tyson-poll\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">a lack of faith from the German public<\/a>, triggering this <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/bannon-defiant-before-beginning-prison-sentence-washington-examiner\/\" title=\"Bannon defiant before beginning prison sentence - Washington Examiner\">month&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s election.<\/p>\n<p>The conservative Christian Democratic Union is expected to take first place, with recent polls showing it winning approximately 29% of the votes.<\/p>\n<p>CDU leader Friedrich Merz, likely the next chancellor, is pushing for Europe to reform and streamline its military weapons system production for efficiency and quality. European countries are in development or operation of 178 separate weapons systems, compared to the United States&rsquo;s 30.<\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;These redundancies cost a lot of money and waste potential,&rdquo; Merz <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reuters.com\/world\/europe\/leading-german-chancellor-candidate-merz-vows-more-assertive-global-role-2025-01-23\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">said last month<\/a>. &ldquo;I want &lsquo;Made in Europe&rsquo; to match the quality and quantity of defense equipment of the USA.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Second place in the election is likely to go to the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/news\/world\/3305416\/afd-germany-mainstream-vote-immigration-restrictions\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" title=\"\">Alternative for Germany<\/a>, a right-wing party that boasts the heavy support of tech billionaire Elon Musk and is polling at 21%.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p> <script data-cfasync=\"false\" src=\"http:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/cdn-cgi\/scripts\/5c5dd728\/cloudflare-static\/email-decode.min.js\"><\/script><script>!function(){var g=window;g.googletag=g.googletag||{},g.googletag.cmd=g.googletag.cmd||[],g.googletag.cmd.push(function(){g.googletag.pubads().setTargeting(\"has-featured-video\",\"true\")})}();<\/script><script>var _bp=_bp||[];_bp.push({\"div\":\"Brid_1922352\",\"obj\":{\"id\":\"27789\",\"width\":\"1280\",\"height\":\"720\",\"stickyDirection\":\"below\",\"video\":\"1922352\"}});<\/script><script defer src=\"https:\/\/services.brid.tv\/player\/build\/brid.min.js\"><\/script><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<div class=\"tdb-block-inner td-fix-index\"><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Germany&#8217;s military is now less prepared for conflict than in February 2022<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3468,"featured_media":2402351,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AP24354751185840.webp","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[538],"tags":[50348,50349,50347,42416,45434],"class_list":["post-2402350","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-washington-examiner","tag-defense-readiness","tag-european-security","tag-german-military","tag-military-analysis","tag-russia-ukraine-war"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/www.washingtonexaminer.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/AP24354751185840.webp","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402350","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3468"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2402350"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402350\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2402354,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2402350\/revisions\/2402354"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2402351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2402350"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2402350"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2402350"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}