German Army Allowed to Sack Extremists

Germany's Federal Administrative Court ruled Thursday that the German army can fire a conscript if he is a member of the far-right German National Party (NPD). According to the ruling, a soldier can be sacked if the military organization is seriously threatened by his presence among the troops. The court was reacting to a conscript, who had appealed against his expulsion from the army by pointing out that the NPD was still not outlawed. The man had begun his basic ten-month mandatory conscription in Bavaria in 1998, but was dismissed by his commander a few months later after it emerged he was an active NPD member. A government representative explained that in the view of the army, the man posed a potential danger. "He could have been a sleeper," he said.