Germany is considering a bill that will allow foreign citizens comprising those from countries not members of the European Union, to be recruited into its army.

Disclosing this to DW, Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, a member of the Free Democratic Party (FDP) and the head of the German parliament’s defence committee, revealed that the scheme will give the foreign beneficiaries the opportunity to become German citizens.

According to the German lawmaker, the beneficiaries could be citizens from EU countries, former EU countries like the United Kingdom, and neutral Switzerland and even NATO.

She said, “I think that Europe also needs to be considered further, namely those who may live in European states but which do not yet belong to the European Union, but which may well be in accession negotiations.

“I don’t want to tie it down like that, because it has to be legally scrutinised.

Ms Strack-Zimmermann added, “We are already working towards the goal of having a European army in the long term. And that’s why in the long term, if you think in a European way, it can no longer matter what nationality a soldier has within this European framework.” 

She also hinted that the enlistment into the German army could be “extended to NATO” depending on political developments in individual member countries like the United States and Canada.

Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius, who is a member of the Social Democrats, had proposed the idea of enlisting non-Germans to combat a drastic shortage in personnel.

Lawmakers belonging to one of its two coalition partners, the FDP and the opposition Christian Democratic Union backed Mr Pistorius’ idea.