The German Parliament approved this Friday the bill presented by the Government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz, formed between conservatives and social democrats, to create . With this measure, Germany – which suspended compulsory military service in 2011 and has had an entirely professional army since then – wants to progressively increase its troops until reaching 460,000 soldiers in 2035, including reservists. All in a context of global geopolitical tension and the growing threat from Russia on the eastern flank of Europe.
With 323 votes in favor, 272 against (those of the Greens, the Left and the ultra AfD party, for different reasons) and one abstention, the new law has passed the parliamentary process and will come into force next year. At that time a military registry will be created: from 2026, therefore, all men and women aged 18 – approximately 300,000 people each year – will receive a questionnaire in which they will be asked for their personal data and asked if they would be willing to do military service for at least six months.
With this questionnaire, the motivation and aptitude of young people for service in the Armed Forces will be determined. For men, responding to the form is mandatory, while for women it is voluntary (since the previous military service, valid until 2011, only included men). Once the form is completed, the option of whether or not to serve in the military is voluntary for everyone.
Likewise, all men born on or after January 1, 2008 will have to undergo a mandatory medical examination starting on July 1, 2027. Until then this examination – in which the physical, mental and intellectual conditions of each person will be determined for a hypothetical future enlistment – will be voluntary.
“Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania, Croatia… The list could go on. All these countries have one thing in common: they have reacted to the change in the threat situation and, recently, France, our closest partner, also announced it a few days ago. Also from Italy there is news in the same direction,” said the German Defense Minister, the social democrat Boris Pistorius, during the parliamentary debate on the law. And he stressed that allied countries tell him “often” that they must be aware that “Germany has long become the pacemaker in the defense of Europe.”
The minister was also in favor of it and pointed out that the demonstrations called this Friday throughout the country by student organizations to show their rejection show “that they are interested in [el asunto]that they are committed and that they know what it is about.” At the same time, he stressed that he knows from “countless conversations in the country”, also with young people, that many of them are willing to “assume responsibilities.”
Pistorius insisted that this is voluntary military service. “No one forces you to do anything, except to fill out a questionnaire that reflects the recorded data and pass a medical examination that does no harm to anyone,” he said. And he added that what is clear is that “this State does not protect itself.” “This has to be done by people who are willing to defend it and not sit idly waiting for others to do it,” he stressed.
The objective of the law is to increase the number of soldiers in the German army: from the current 182,000 to 260,000 in 2035. In addition, 200,000 more reservists will be needed. If these figures were not met, the German Government could then choose to make the military mandatory – selecting young recruits through a random procedure or a lottery – but to do so it would have to approve a specific decree and put it to a vote in Parliament. That is to say, the law approved this Friday does not include an automatic mechanism to make the military mandatory in the future.
In any case, and to avoid reaching that point of obligation, the Government intends to attract thousands of young people to the voluntary military with a monthly remuneration of at least 2,600 gross euros; Those who commit to completing at least one year of military service will also receive a subsidy for a car or truck driving license.
During the parliamentary debate, the conservatives recalled that there is currently a “security threat situation” both in Germany and in Europe arising from the invasion of Ukraine by Russia, which “threatens freedom and peace throughout Europe.”
“The fact that we have operational Armed Forces capable of defending ourselves is an important, significant and decisive contribution to security policy. This law is good news for Germany, for Europe,” declared Norbert Röttgen, of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU). And he considered that it is a “peace policy” like the one that existed between the great powers during the Cold War (1945-1991), where having Armed Forces capable of defending constituted the basis of “the German, European and transatlantic deterrence capacity.”
While the Bundestag was voting on the bill “for the modernization of military service”, thousands of young people from all over the country joined the student strikes and took to the streets of 89 cities to protest to show their rejection. The call is organized by the alliance “”.
Many young people fear being enlisted against their will. “First it is voluntary and then it becomes mandatory. They need a certain number and, according to surveys, they are not going to reach the number they want,” says Lars, a 17-year-old Berliner who attended the demonstration in the center of Berlin. He acknowledges that “it is scary” to see current events, “especially now that wars are breaking out all over the world.” “If we receive military training, we will probably be the first to go to the front and they will use us as cannon fodder,” fears Love, another 16-year-old Berliner with a German and Swedish passport. “The world has evolved. We are not like 100 years ago. We have become more democratic, more peaceful. We no longer have to fight on the front like before,” he points out.
The banners display slogans such as “Against military service”, “No mandatory military service for a generation that has never been asked”, “Talk instead of fighting” or “Our future is ours”. From a small stage, the organizers have called to “learn from history” and have stated that “rearmament creates more insecurity.”
“If forced, I would probably exercise my right to conscientious objection,” says Arthur, while a group sings on stage Hello beautiful. For this 16-year-old young man, the voluntary military service that politicians are now talking about “is not viable” and will “very quickly” become mandatory. “At school we have talked about the issue and the majority is against it,” agrees Niels, 18, who, at the moment, is not “very worried” about the possibility of a war. “I would say that we should not be alarmist, but hey, in any case we must demonstrate so that this does not happen.”
