Wary of Russia, Germany tiptoes toward compulsory military service
BERLIN – Germany took a major step Wednesday toward a controversial return to compulsory military service, as Berlin confronts the inadequacy of its armed forces to stand up to Russia and the prospect that European nations will be tasked with providing security guarantees for Ukraine.
Germany – with the European Union’s largest population and economy – has committed to vast spending to confront the Russian threat amid American reluctance under Donald Trump to pay for Europe’s defense. But Germany also has a woefully understaffed military, and it faces other obstacles to rearmament after largely embracing pacifism since World War II.
On Wednesday, aiming to boost the ranks of the Bundeswehr, the German armed forces, Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s cabinet approved a plan that would reinstate a form of conscription, which has not existed in Germany since being suspended in 2011.
The measure – subject to parliamentary approval this fall – would not subject Germans to draft cards and lotteries. Instead, starting next year, it would require 18-year-old German men to fill out a questionnaire about their physical fitness and willingness to serve. For women, the form would be voluntary. The bill also allows compulsory military service to be reinstated in the future, with parliamentary consent.
Beginning in 2027, the bill would require all 18-year-old men to undergo a physical fitness exam.
These measures would save time “if mandatory conscription for basic military service has to be activated, because conscription data will then already be available and will not have to be collected in this situation,” according to the draft legislation.
The bill text is clear about its purpose – and urgency – stating: “Russia will remain the greatest threat to security in Europe for the foreseeable future and is creating the military personnel and material prerequisites to be able to attack NATO territory within a few years.”
To approve the measure, the cabinet held a symbolic meeting at the German Defense Ministry for the first time in more than 30 years.
“The Bundeswehr must grow,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in a news conference after the cabinet meeting. “The international security situation, especially Russia’s aggressive behavior, demands this.”
A recent survey of Germans showed about 6 in 10 in favor of conscription if voluntary recruitment falls short. But most respondents aged 18 to 29 – those most likely to be affected – are opposed. And only 16% of Germans said they would definitely take up arms if Germany is attacked.
If compulsory conscription is reinstated, conscientious objectors would be able to avoid the military, as was permitted previously, by performing civil service such as hospital work or disaster relief, the bill states.
On Wednesday morning, a group of about 70 anti-war activists demonstrated against the conscription proposal outside a Bundeswehr career center in Cologne, according to police.
The bill has also stirred controversy within Merz’s governing coalition.
Foreign Minister Johann Wadephul raised objections to the measure, according to German media reports, saying it would not increase recruitment enough, but he dropped those objections Monday. Meanwhile, members of the center-left Social Democratic Party – the junior coalition partner to Merz’s center-right Christian Democratic Union – have voiced misgivings about conscription, preferring voluntary enlistment.
The government aims to increase the number of soldiers in Bundeswehr to 260,000 – from 180,000, in addition to large increases in the number of reservists. The Defense Ministry expects about 15,000 soldiers to enlist this year, but it is hoping to double that annual number by the end of the decade.
Increased pay and recruitment efforts should increase enlistments, but critics – particularly within Merz’s party – say voluntary measures won’t be enough, and compulsory service may be needed.
“There will be no way around conscription,” Markus Söder, minister-president of the state of Bavaria and head of the Christian Social Union, the Bavarian sister party to Merz’s CDU, said on German TV ahead of the cabinet vote.
Merz said Wednesday that the goal was to “make military service more attractive and bring in more young people to serve in the Bundeswehr.” But, he added, “if we determine that we need to make adjustments, we will do so.”
Even Pistorius, a Social Democrat, conceded that voluntary measures might fall short. “There is no guarantee that voluntary participation will be sufficient.”
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Kate Brady in Berlin contributed to this report.