Berlin takes an example from his Swedish neighbors. Meeting at Bendlerblock, the historic seat of the Wehrmacht, the coalition government of the new Chancellor Friedrich Merz (Christian Democrat Union, CDU) presented, this Wednesday, August 27, its bill paving the way for a progressive reintroduction of military service.
Berlin encourages German youth
The objective of the Ministry of Defense: recruit around 40,000 young volunteers per year by 2030 in order to reach the threshold of 200,000 reservists. A reform that would bring the workforce of the Bundeswehr to around 460,000 soldiers, active and reservists combined, in five years, while the German army no longer has today – fourteen years after the suspension of conscription – than 180,000 active soldiers.
A new decisive step for the future of the German army, which comes while Boris Pistorius, responsible for rearming the country in the face of the Russian threat in the framework of Chanceling US military protection, already alerted, a few years ago, on the compromising absence of military census if “A defense problem” had to occur. This questionnaire will allow theGermany To have a complete panorama of the living forces likely to strengthen the ranks of the Bundeswehr in the event of a bright war on the European continent.
Mandatory district?
From 2026, all young Germans over the age of 18 will receive a questionnaire – compulsory for men, optional for women – on their state of health, their skills and their potential interest in a military career. From 2028, any 18 -year -old young man will also be summoned to a compulsory medical examination. A device intended to identify those which seem particularly capable and motivated to engage.
To encourage vocations, the German army relies on attractive conditions: revalued remuneration, bonuses for long -term committed, free transport, training and language courses, or the possibility of passing the driving license.
Too light a measure for the CDU
But for the “black-red” coalition, combining the CDU and the CSU, this measure-symbolically important in a country marked since 1945 by a strong pacifist tradition-remains insufficient. “We cannot defend ourselves with questionnaires,” said the chairman of the defense committee Thomas Röwekamp. Faced with current geostrategic tensions, many claim the return to compulsory military service, as it existed before its suspension in 2011 under the Chancellery from Angela Merkel.
For Patrick Sensburg, president of the country’s association of reservists, “A volunteer military service will not be enough”. According to him, “Only compulsory military service” can guarantee the sufficient recruitment of German reservists for the years to come, “In order to ensure the rise in power of the armed forces and thus increase the country’s deterrent capacity.”
On the side of the social democrats, hostility remains. Boris Pistorius (Social Democratic Party, SPD) has always defended the return to compulsory military service, considering that the suspension of conscription was “an error” and that the return of voluntary service is only a first step towards strengthening the workforce of the Bundeswehr.
