GERMANY: Germany is slashing the size of its army, the Bundeswehr, cutting €26 billion from its budget and closing 100 army bases, but will retain compulsory military service for the immediate future.
The Defence Minister, Mr Peter Struck, said the number of soldiers would be reduced from 282,000 to 250,000, with a 10,000 reduction in civilian personnel to 75,000.
He said the cuts were aimed at streamlining the Bundeswehr to enable it to react more rapidly to global threats.
"German troops could in the future serve anywhere around the world," he said, rejecting suggestions that the cutbacks would affect German troop deployments in the Balkans and Afghanistan.
Foreign missions rather than national defence would be the Bundeswehr's main task in the future, he said. In future, the Bundeswehr will be divided into three divisions: a 35,000-strong rapid reaction force, a second of 70,000 for low- and medium- intensity conflict, and a third force of 137,500 civilians providing medical and logistical support.
The long-term future of Germany's nine-month military service for school-leavers remains open, although the defence minister is anxious to see it retained.
The cutbacks have angered leading Christian Democrat politicians, who called it the "Bundeswehr's Waterloo".
The announcement will not please Germany's NATO partners, who have already criticised its ever-decreasing defence budget.
Before today's cuts were announced, Germany spent 1.5 per cent of GDP on defence, while Britain and France spend around 2.5 per cent.