The N-VA demands physical tests for candidate soldiers

“The N-VA wants a professional military with soldiers in top physical condition.” The N-VA is not satisfied with the purple-green proposal to stop the physical selection tests for new recruits while the coronavirus crisis persists.

The purple-green government wants to suspend physical testing for new recruits while the coronavirus persists. According to the N-VA, the government is going too far. “The coronavirus crisis is forcing us to take crisis measures, which is inevitable. Yet the purple-green government is going too far. The physical selection tests are a substantial part of the recruitment procedure. In a year in which as many as 2,300 new people have to be recruited, putting any form of physical testing on hold is not acceptable. The N-VA wants a professional military with soldiers in top physical condition. Defence is neither an employment project nor a recruitment battery. The most capable people need to be recruited. By the way, I would like to point out that police schools do still impose physical tests on candidate police officers.”

The Holy Grail of Defence

In addition, the bill authorises the government to further amend the status of candidate soldiers and military personnel while the coronavirus crisis continues. That is not acceptable to the N-. “Such an authorisation to the government goes too far. After years, there is finally a government again that is operating with its full powers. Parliament works every day, so there is no sensible reason to empower the government, certainly not about something as delicate as the status of our military. That is like the Holy Grail of Defence. Disabling parliament as a legislative power is shocking. Had the so-called Swedish Government even only insinuated this, the PS would have unleashed all its demons.”

PS dominance of Defence

The bill has yet to be approved by the plenary meeting of the Chamber of Representatives. “Hopefully, the purple-green government will come back to this. The ‘Swedish’ government was a breath of fresh air after years of PS domination of Defence. We can’t believe that MR, Open VLD and CD&V agree to this,” the N-VA concludes.