Reforms in German army after neo-Nazi terror plot discovered

In April, the Defense Ministry said that the MAD was currently investigating 275 soldiers suspected of carrying out “far-right actions” – mostly limited to spreading neo-Nazi propaganda or posting far-right comments on social media.

The MAD also came under criticism for its screening of employees. Last week it emerged that the military intelligence agency is employing neo-Nazis as investigators. One of them is Hendrik Rottmann, a MAD civilian agent who is also Cologne city councilor representing the far-right, racist Alternative for Germany (AfD) party (the GRU and FSB, the two Russian intelligence services which helped Donald Trump win the November election, and which were heavily involved in trying to help Marine Le Pen win the French election, are now helping the AfD ahead of the September federal election in Germany).

Rottmann used the Nazi slogan “Deutschland erwache” (“Germany awaken”) to sign off his Twitter messages. This was the slogan of the SA (Sturmabteilung), the “Brown shirts” which protected Adolf Hitler’s rallies in the 1920s and early 1930s. In 1934, the SA was absorbed by the emerging SS, led by Heinrich Himmler, although it was not officially disbanded.

Using Nazi slogans publicly is banned in Germany, and Rottmann, a government employee, is now facing legal charges.

Some in the German military, and experts outside the military, say that von der Leyen is exaggerating the scope of the problem.

There has always been the issue of far-right people being drawn to the Bundeswehr - that is a problem that needs to be rooted out, no question,” said Sebastian Schulte, defense analyst and Germany correspondent for Jane’s Defense Weekly. “But I fail to see a systematic, deeply-rooted, anti-democratic, right-wing network within the Bundeswehr.”

He argues that there has been a “hyper-sensitivity” to the issue following the revelations, “both in the media and from von der Leyen herself, which amplifies the problem.”

That is not how the Bundeswehr are used to being led,” Schulte told DW. “The ideal of military leadership is to lead from the front — if you make a mistake, own it, and learn from it. Von der Leyen’s leadership is increasingly seen as patronizing. She is supposed to stand for the Bundeswehr, but she is seen as being too quick to throw the whole organization under the bus.” 

Michael Wolffsohn, a professor of modern history at the University of the German Armed Forces in Munich, told the Times that the decision to scrap the draft had driven the military from the center of society.

“As soon as society in general retreats from the armed forces, it opens the way and the place for fringe groups on one hand, and highly motivated idealists on the other,” Wolffsohn said.

“We have to ask ourselves if we can afford to leave the way open for extremists, not only right-wingers, but also Islamic and maybe even left-wing extremists.”