Army officers in schools: Pistorius slams Berlin plan as 'signal against the Bundeswehr'
The Left, Greens and SPD want to end the Berlin education authority's cooperation with the military. The defence minister called the move 'completely incomprehensible'; commissioner Otte also objected.
Archive image · Photo: U.S. Secretary of Defense / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has criticised plans by the Left Party, the Greens and the SPD in Berlin to end cooperation between the city's education authority and the Bundeswehr. It was "completely incomprehensible to end a cooperation agreement concluded only in June this year," he told the Tagesspiegel. The agreement covers visits by youth officers who speak in schools about security policy and the military's mission. The plan is part of the three parties' exploratory paper.
Pistorius conceded that this would probably not mean the end of youth officer visits to Berlin schools. But schools would repeatedly have to decide for themselves whom they may invite, which could unsettle teachers. "Ending the cooperation agreement in Berlin would be a signal against the Bundeswehr and its important mission," the minister said. A ministry spokeswoman stressed the visits were not about advertising or recruitment.
Parliamentary armed forces commissioner Henning Otte told Focus the plan showed a "disturbed relationship with our troops" and a "security policy misjudgement." According to the ministry, nearly 5,590 such events with some 164,600 participants were held nationwide in 2024.