BUNDESWEHR EXCLUSIVE

The Bundeswehr (German: [ˈbʊndəsˌveːɐ̯] (listen), meaning literally: Federal Defence) is the armed forces of the Federal Republic of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities. The states of Germany are not allowed to maintain armed forces of their own because the German Constitution states that matters of defense fall into the sole responsibility of the federal government. The Bundeswehr is divided into a military part (armed forces or Streitkräfte) and a civil part with the armed forces administration (Wehrverwaltung). The military part of the federal defense force consists of the German Army, the German Navy, the German Air Force, the Joint Support Service, the Joint Medical Service, and the Cyber and Information Domain Service. As of December 2021[update], the Bundeswehr has a strength of 183,695 active-duty military personnel and 81,931 civilians, placing it among the 30 largest military forces in the world and making it the second largest in the European Union behind France in personnel. In addition the Bundeswehr has approximately 30,050 reserve personnel (2020). With German military expenditures at $52.8 billion, the Bundeswehr is the seventh best-funded military in the world, even though military expenditures remain average at 1.4% of national GDP, well below the (non-binding) NATO target of 2%. Germany aimed to expand the Bundeswehr to around 203,000 soldiers by 2025 to better cope with increasing responsibilities. On the 27th of February 2022, following concerns from the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz announced a major shift in policy by pledging a €100 billion special fund for the Bundeswehr, along with a raise of budget to "above 2%" GDP. This follows decades of relative neglect of the German Armed Forces, and was implied to have come from the need to protect national democracy and freedom, rather than from outside (NATO) pressure. The fund, along with proposed budget changes, has yet to pass through the Parliament and Federal Council, but overall, Germany seems to be in favour of increased defence budget.