The German constitution, or Basic Law, mandates that the Bundeswehr can only be deployed as a security force inside Germany when a state of emergency has been declared.

This has already caused a legal problem in the state of Thuringia, where the state authorities have asked the Bundeswehr to help at an asylum-seekers’ home that has been placed under quarantine. Thuringian authorities maintain that the soldiers are only needed to “secure provisions for the approximately 500 inhabitants,” not to guard the home itself, the DPA news agency reported.

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