German minister calls for faster military application process

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has called for more speed in dealing with applicants for training or a job in the armed forces.

More effort should also be made to attract women and people with a migration background to the army, Pistorius said on Wednesday during a visit to the Bundeswehr career centre in Stuttgart.

The number of applicants for the Bundeswehr has continued to fall.

So far this year, there were 7% fewer applicants than in the same period last year, the minister said. However, he expects a trend reversal, saying the requests for advice about a career in the Bundeswehr rose by 16%.

Pistorius also pointed out the high dropout rate of 30%.

"That has a lot to do with expectations, with expectation management, maybe with misconceptions, and in individual cases also with excessive demands," he said.

He called for a more realistic image of the Bundeswehr in advertising campaigns, not making it seem like a "Mission Impossible film," a reference to the Hollywood blockbuster.

At the moment, women make up just under 10% of the military, not including those working in medical services.

People with a migration background are also massively under-represented "for various reasons," Pistorius pointed out.

The Bundeswehr currently has about 183,000 men and women in uniform.

The forces aim to employ 203,000 soldiers by 2031, but Pistorius has questioned this older target.