New German soldiers told they must be 'ready for action'

Europe's security and Berlin's strategic military choices were on the mind of Germany's defence minister as she formally inducted about 400 new soldiers into the country's armed forces on Saturday, telling them they must be "ready for action."

Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told the recruits they were making a commitment to the Bundeswehr at a time "marked by an insecurity that was thought to have been overcome, marked also by concerns about a conflagration in Europe."

The Russian invasion of Ukraine weighed on the minds of citizens and represented a threat to freedom and democracy on the continent, she said at the ceremony at the Defence Ministry in Berlin.

She thanked the soldiers and spoke of a "new view" of the Bundeswehr among Germans, saying the broad scepticism of all things military that had long featured in the country was now a relic of the past.

"They are appreciated. They are respected. They are trusted," Lambrecht said of Germany's troops.

One clear sign of this, Lambrecht said, was the €100 billion ($103.6 billion) special defence fund to revamp Germany's military that was created in the wake of the start of the war in Ukraine.

Critics frequently accused Berlin of neglecting its military in the decades following the Cold War. The new fund is to be used, among other things, for new equipment purchases.

"More urgently than ever, we need a Bundeswehr that is ready for action," Lambrecht told the troops. "And it is you who are providing that!"