The still-acting German government wants to prolong the deployment of the country's armed forces in Afghanistan and its participation in the fight against the Islamic State by three months without a parliamentary mandate, the magazine SPIEGEL reported on Thursday.
The cabinet led by Chancellor Angela Merkel anticipates that a new government will not be formed by December 2017 when the renewal of the mandates for the two foreign missions is officially scheduled to be approved by the federal parliament.
The result of Germany's national election on Sunday meant that a new governing coalition between the CDU/CSU bloc, business-friendly Free Democratic Party and Greens is most likely to be entered. But the terms and conditions must be discussed.
The current government consequently wants to postpone a parliamentary discussion of the Armed Forces deployments to April 2018.
The move is indicative of Merkel's cabinet's skepticism that a new legislative alliance will be established swiftly, as well its desire to ensure that Germany remains a reliable international partner.
Around 1,000 German soldiers are involved in a mission to train Afghanistan's local armed forces. The German Ministry of Defense has recently called for raising the number of soldiers deployed in Afghanistan to 1,400 after U.S. President Donald Trump suggested an expansion of the U.S. mission there.
Afghanistan's security situation remains highly precarious with the radical Islamic Taliban militia still controlling large swaths of the country.
However, the German Foreign Office opposed such plans to send more German troops. A compromise was subsequently reached between Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen and Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel to wait and see before reaching a decision.
In parallel to its mission in Afghanistan, Germany is also participating in the international coalition to combat the so-called Islamic State in Syria and Iraq. German "Tornado" jets currently conduct surveillance flights for the coalition towards that end.
In light of worsening relations between Berlin and Ankara, the Tornado jets will be moved from Turkey and stationed at a new air force base in Jordan as of October. According to SPIEGEL, the German armed forces want to lower the number of jets deployed from six to four as a result.