Plans to bring back registration for possible military service in Germany were met with mixed reactions from politicians in the country on Wednesday.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ proposal would require young men to complete a questionnaire and some also undergo physical examinations, but would not reinstate compulsory military service in the country.
Many lawmakers welcomed the proposal as a useful idea to address the military manpower shortage, but some also expressed hesitation about the mandatory elements.
Florian Hahn of the center-right opposition bloc CDU/CSU said he expected Pistorius to unveil more far-reaching plans, including possibly actually bringing back conscription, and suspected that Chancellor Olaf Scholz and the coalition had let him “run out of steam.” “During a nine-month review of the issue.
Germany effectively abolished conscription in 2011, although the country’s law still allows compulsory conscription in the event of war or other tensions. The country has since dismantled many of the institutions and facilities used for conscription.
But the Bundeswehr, as the German military is known, has struggled to recruit enough volunteers to fill its ranks, an issue that has received renewed attention as Germany and other NATO countries have tried to rebuild their armed forces in the aftermath of the large-scale invasion of Russia. Ukraine.
