Why are European militaries having trouble recruiting soldiers?

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Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has prompted calls for European countries to increase military spending and strengthen their defenses in an effort to reverse military drawdowns that have occurred over the past decade.

However, their efforts faced a major challenge: a lack of recruits willing to join the military.

Despite new investments and a recent conscription drive, Germany recently announced that its troop numbers fell slightly last year. The country’s Ministry of Defense announced earlier this month that the German Bundeswehr’s military strength would be reduced by about 1,500 troops in 2023, with a total of about 181,500 men and women by the end of the year.of Bundeswehr plans It plans to increase the number of troops to 203,000 by 2031.

Britain recently admitted it was struggling to recruit new soldiers, with the country’s Ministry of Defense announcing that 5,800 more people would leave the military than join in 2023. The British Defense Journal writes that the Army has not met recruitment targets every year since 2010.

“The problem is one that all European countries share, including France, Italy and Spain,” Vincenzo Bove, a political science professor at the University of Warwick in the UK, told Euronews. “I don’t think any country can escape this problem.”

Bove said it’s unclear exactly when attracting new recruits became an issue for the European military. “My understanding is that it started at least 10 years ago in countries like the UK,” Bove said. “It started at least 20 years ago in the United States.”

What is certain is that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has increased the pressure on European countries to resolve the issue. But why are European countries having trouble recruiting soldiers?

1. The values ​​of young people have changed.

Bove said the ideological distance between society as a whole and the military has grown even wider in recent years.

“If you take a random sample of young Europeans, they are ideologically very distant from a sample of soldiers from the same country, in terms of their social views, their aspirations, what they want to do,” Bove said. “And this distance is increasing over time.”

Bove said recent surveys show young civilians overwhelmingly oppose war, increase military spending and military operations overseas. They are also more individualistic and less patriotic than those serving in the military.

There’s no clear explanation why this gap is widening, but Bove says it’s due to the abolition of conscription and young people being less exposed to the military, most of whom don’t know anyone working in armed groups. He said it may have something to do with the facts. Power.

Dr. Sophie Antrobus, a research fellow at King’s College London’s Freeman Institute for Aerospace Studies, agreed with Bove, telling Euronews that the smaller the military, the fewer civilians will actually see it. Ta. “In most parts of this country [the UK]You rarely see people wearing military uniforms, and there is no sense of the military as a profession. ”

2. Unattractive salary

Another reason is that working in the military has become like any other job, putting them at a disadvantage as they compete with the private sector for recruits, Bove said.

“Due to the challenges of the military sector, quality of life, transfers, international assignments, uncertainty, and the possibility of death, it is necessary to pay very high salaries to persuade people to volunteer and join the military. ” Bove said. “Given that this is not the case, young Europeans would rather accept jobs in the private sector.”

Speaking specifically about the UK, Mr Antrobus, who served 20 years in the Royal Air Force, including in Iraq and Afghanistan, added that there is not a lot of investment in the military and the conditions of military accommodation are “pretty good”. That’s bad,” she said.

“The application period to join the military is also very long, and especially the younger generation now, they expect things to happen quickly. “It’s a more attractive option than waiting for someone to give you one,” she said.

3. Population decline

European militaries are also struggling to find potential volunteers as the continent’s population ages and shrinks.

Bove said the size of militaries has already shrunk to adapt to this change, with the British, Italian and French armies, for example, now “almost half the size they were 10 or 20 years ago.” claim.

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For Europe’s armed forces, the decline in volunteer numbers now means the quality of recruits accepted may not meet the rigorous standards that the armed forces have imposed for decades. Therefore, dangerous people such as neo-Nazi sympathizers could be disqualified. in.

Antrobus said there was also an issue with the “health and fitness” of young people. He said obesity is a major problem in the U.S., where most people between the ages of 17 and 24 are unhealthy. If this trend continues, the military will not be able to conscript anyone by 2035 to 2040. ”

What does the future hold for European militaries?

Bove said European forces are in a bit of a “panic” as they scramble to recruit new recruits in the face of a growing threat from Moscow.

Mr Bove said countries such as Spain, France and Portugal were already considering ways to allow immigrants to join the military and obtain citizenship after serving in the military for several years, adding: “Immigration could be the answer. There is a gender,” he said.

“That’s probably the best way to move forward,” Bove said. “Because you can’t force people to fight for you and join the military, and people won’t accept reinstatement of conscription.”

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“To be honest, this is an intractable problem,” Antrobus said. “Everything starts with politics, political will and interests.” Antrobus said solutions to the conscription process for the European Armed Forces include “making the service more attractive, making the pay a little bit better, making sure to improve the standard of living.” “This may include things such as increasing the cost of living, but compared to the cost of living and prices, this is not enough of a political issue.” economy. “