Extremist soldiers to be removed from German forces more quickly

A bill to allow the German Armed Forces, or Bundeswehr, to remove soldiers with extremist views from the force more quickly was passed by Berlin's Cabinet on Wednesday.
"This will create a new dismissal offence for all soldiers who are identified as extremists," deputy government spokeswoman Christiane Hoffmann said in the German capital.
Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said that in future it would be possible to dismiss recognized extremists from the Bundeswehr without lengthy judicial disciplinary proceedings, she explained.
An appointment as a professional soldier will in principle not be possible if someone has been convicted of incitement by a German court, she continued, adding that already appointed soldiers would lose this status in case of a conviction.
The Military Counter-Intelligence Service (MAD) recently recorded a significant decline in cases of suspected extremism in the Bundeswehr.
At the turn of the year 2022-23, 962 cases were being processed, compared to 1,452 cases a year earlier. Suspected cases of right-wing extremism were again at the top of the list, but these had declined.