[GER] Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to partially dissolve KSK

[Dale Denton]

Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to partially dissolve KSK

https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/ksk-teilaufloesung-101.html

Defense Minister Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to fundamentally restructure the Bundeswehr special forces command following a series of extreme right-wing incidents. A company is to be completely dissolved.

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer wants to partially dissolve the KSK elite force after right-wing extremist incidents. The second company, in which the incidents took place, will be dissolved without replacement, said the minister of the "Süddeutsche Zeitung". This leaves the KSK with only three operating companies. The minister drew a critical conclusion of the situation: The command of special forces "had become independent in part, also because there was a toxic leadership culture for individuals - it follows that the KSK cannot remain in its current state," she told the newspaper.

Right-wing extremism in the Bundeswehr
Kramp-Karrenbauer provides KSK Ultimatum

https://www.spiegel.de/politik/deutschland/annegret-kramp-karrenbauer-ultimatum-an-ksk-wegen-rechtsextremismus-in-der-bundeswehr-a-b798424a-e10e-4697-969e-74ab0eb32570

The Defense Minister presented a reform program because of extreme right-wing incidents at the "Special Forces Command". If there is no improvement, only one option remains.
By Matthias Gebauer
30.06.2020, 4.13 p.m.

Defense Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer has ordered an extensive reform package for the scandal-shaken elite unit of the Bundeswehr. After a visit to the "Command Special Forces" ( KSK ) on Monday in Calw, Baden-Württemberg, the CDU politician informed the chiefs of the Defense Committee about a package of measures on Tuesday afternoon. It should put an end to the extreme right-wing activities in the strictly isolated unit.

 

[Retired AF Guy]

Additional information from Reuters:

Germany to dissolve special forces unit over far-right links



BERLIN (Reuters) - Germany’s defence minister plans to disband a company of its elite KSK special forces in a effort to purge them of a persistent problem of far-right extremism, a ministry document obtained by Reuters on Tuesday showed.

Established in 1996, the KSK’s reputation was tarnished in 2003 when its then-commander was forced into early retirement after being accused of being close to far-right extremists - links that have continued to dog the unit’s reputation since.

In May, police seized weapons, explosives and ammunition during a raid on the private property of a KSK soldier in the eastern state of Saxony. There have been several recent far-right incidents in the unit, the ministry document showed.

“The second company will be disbanded,” Defence State Secretary Peter Tauber wrote in the document.

“An analysis of current events and right-wing extremist cases makes it clear...that the KSK, at least in some areas, has become independent in recent few years, under the influence of an unhealthy understanding of elites by individual leaders.”

In June, a KSK captain asked Defence Minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer to intervene in a 10-page letter in which he accused instructors and senior commandos in the unit of cultivating a “toxic culture of acceptance” under which complaints about far right influence were suppressed.

Germany is trying to stem a rise in violent far-right ideology. In February, a 43-year-old racist shot dead nine people with immigrant backgrounds in the town of Hanau before killing his mother and himself.

As part of Kramp-Karrenbauer’s crackdown on the far right, KSK operations will be moved to other units as far as possible and the commando unit’s exercises and international cooperation endeavours will be suspended until further notice.

The KSK aims to be 1,000-strong but has never been that big due to tough selection tests.[/url]