German general ‘shaken’ by abuse cases in elite paratroop unit

BERLIN, Jan 14 (Reuters) – Germany’s most senior general said on Wednesday he had been deeply shaken by a scandal over alleged sexual abuse, right-wing extremism and drug use at ‍an elite paratroop unit and promised to strengthen leadership in the army.

“We do not tolerate sexualised violence, extremism, drug abuse or discrimination in the armed forces,” the commander of Germany’s military, General Carsten Breuer told reporters in Berlin, saying the incidents have “shaken me deeply”.

“Soldiers who condone such ‌behaviour cannot serve as officers in our armed ‌forces,” he said, after presenting a report on the affair to the parliamentary defence committee.

The scandal emerged after female soldiers in the 26th Parachute Regiment, whose missions have included helping the evacuation of Germans and ​other foreign nationals from Sudan, reported numerous cases of alleged abuse to the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces, the ‍military ombudsman.

The affair has piled pressure on ​the military as Germany begins registration of all ​18-year-olds as part of a drive to increase the size of the ‍armed forces – a response to U.S. demands for European NATO allies to shoulder more of the burden of defending their continent.

The opposition Green party accused Defence Minister Boris Pistorius of seeking to avoid responsibility for the alleged abuse, which the party’s deputy ‍parliamentary leader Agnieszka Brugger said had taken root under his conservative predecessors.

“This is not only a disastrous signal, but a real danger to ‍increasing the personnel of ‍the Bundeswehr and thus to the security ​of us all,” she said in a statement.

The ​military says ⁠a series of disciplinary measures has already been ‌taken, including dismissal of a number of soldiers, and 16 cases had been handed over to civil prosecutors.

“We have certainly gained the impression that the investigations were in some cases not conducted with the necessary depth,” General Christian Freuding, the senior army general, said.

(Reporting by James Mackenzie;Editing ⁠by Alison Williams)