by Benson Agoha
Germany will not be allowing bigger role for her military in world affairs if the government heeds result of a recent poll.
The latest poll organised between Monday and Wednesday this week revealed 61% of 1000 polled by ARD Public Television, gave a `no' response, against 30% `yes' responses.
According to the latest poll, the majority of Germans are opposed to a bigger involvement of the Bundeswehr forces in global affairs, even though new Defence Minister is in favour of increased involvement of the army.
On January 12, 2014, media reporteds said Ursula von der Leyen, new Defence Minister of Germany and first ever female to hold the defence post, planned an increase to military employment.
In an interview for 'Bild am Sonntag', Germany's biggest selling national Sunday Newspaper, Ursula von der Leyen said "My goal is to make the German armed forces into one of the most attractive employers in Germany", adding "..In doing so, the most important issue is the compatability of employment and family."
Ursula von der Leyen, a physician, who had previously served as `Federal Minister of Family Affairs, Senior Citizens, Women and Youth' and `Federal Minister of Labour and Social Affairs' in the first and Second Cabinets of German Chancellor, Angela Merkel respectively was recently quoted as saying in an interview with Der Spiegel "...that Germany should engage more strongly in Africa by sending additional military trainers to Mali and supporting the French intervention in Central African Republic."
She had told the newspaper that Germany be able to boost her international military engagement "within the framework of our alliances.."
She said that Germany "cannot look the other way when murder and rape are a daily occurrence, if only for humanitarian reasons."
However, "in a separate poll Thursday for Stern magazine, 51 percent of Germans surveyed said that the Bundeswehr should take part in "humanitarian" missions in African crisis zones, while 43 percent rejected such action," Ahram reports.
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