The German Military Counterintelligence Service (MAD) has fallen behind on personnel checks in the country's armed forces, the Bundeswehr, with only 69,687 personal files under inspection as of late May out of 253,000 records, German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported on Sunday, citing the German Defense Ministry.

The report indicated that the Bundeswehr was facing a "real security issue" due to being overwhelmed amid growing volumes of checks for cooperation with foreign security services every month.

The check, which includes an inspection for three access levels to classified information, may last about 1.5 years, lowering the efficiency of the German troops, as well as hindering the recruitment of new staff, the report pointed out.

It is noteworthy that in mid-April, the Bundeswehr admitted that due to the continued support for Kiev, as well as a lack of funding, the nation has failed to fulfill its NATO commitments, the German media outlet Bild reported. 

A 14-page analysis put forward early in March explained that a tank division that was expected to constitute a part of the new unit had faced a 21% staff shortage.

In mid-March, the representative of the German army in the parliament, Eva Hoegl, warned that the military "lacks everything", slamming the German Chancellor Olaf Scholz for unfulfilling his promise to replenish the Bundeswehr's arms stocks that he handed over to Ukraine.

In early March, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius confessed that the German army is incapable of protecting the country in the event of war due to a dearth of manpower and inadequate infrastructure.

In early January, the German Federal Office of Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions highlighted that the number of German military personnel refusing to serve in 2022 increased by about 500% year on year due to the situation in Ukraine.