German military contemplates recruiting EU citizens in some professions

Germany's top soldier says authorities are mulling over permitting the country's military to recruit citizens of other European Union nations in some areas. Those specific areas may include professions like medical, information technology etc.

Germany dropped military conscription in 2011, and the Bundeswehr (unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities) now has to compete for recruits in a healthy economy with low unemployment. The military's chief of staff, Gen. Eberhard Zorn, was quoted Thursday as telling the Funke newspaper group that "we must look in every direction at a time when there is a shortage of specialists."

"One option we are examining is the question of whether we allow applications by fellow EU citizens for very specific fields of work — we are talking here about doctors or IT specialists, for example," Zorn.

The idea of training and recruiting the citizens from European Union eager to start a new life in Germany was articulated in the Bundeswehr's 2016 White Paper on German Security Policy. It also took its height in August this year. During the end of July this year, the defence ministry announced that it was seriously considering this option.