BERLIN (AP) — Germany’s defense minister on Wednesday announced plans for new legislation that would help replenish the depleted ranks of the armed forces to boost the country’s defense capabilities.
Boris Pistorius said the proposed bill would allow the government to send letters to all young men turning 18 – about 400,000 per year – asking questions about their willingness and ability to serve in the military.
By law, those who receive the letter must complete the questions. The military would then invite those interested in serving for a medical checkup and select the most qualified to serve in the military for a period of 6 to 23 months.
Speaking to reporters in Berlin, Pistorius explained that threat levels have changed compared to a few years ago.
“Russia has been waging war against Ukraine for two and a half years now – not only calling into question the rules-based international order, it is destroying it,” he said. “This is a new threat situation.”
The campaign is part of efforts to increase the number of active armed forces from the current figure of just under 181,000 to 203,000. Germany had more than 500,000 troops during the Cold War.
If the bill is passed, the new military service would still be voluntary and far from the mandatory military service for young men, which was suspended in Germany in 2011 after 55 years. Since then, there has been no more compulsory military or civilian service in the country.
Germany’s conscription law still stipulates that military service for men can resume if parliament declares a state of defense emergency.
Women turning 18 would also receive the letters, Pistorius said, but would not be obliged to respond as the German constitution does not provide for mandatory military service for them.
After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, sparking one of the most brutal wars in Europe since World War II, calls have been steadily growing in Germany to reintroduce some kind of military service to be better prepared on possible future wars.
Just days after Russia attacked Ukraine, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz pledged to increase German defense spending to a NATO target of 2% of gross domestic product and established the 100 billion euro ($107 billion) special fund . He said the invasion marked a “turning point.”
Pistorius himself has repeatedly said that Germany must become “war-ready” in order to act as a credible deterrent together with its NATO allies.
If the proposal becomes law, Pistorius expects that of the approximately 400,000 young men who complete the questionnaire annually, about a quarter would express an interest in the military. Of those, the Army will likely choose the 5,000 most qualified men, but hopes to increase that number in the long term.
The German lack of military personnel and equipment is a well-known problem. In March, the parliament’s commissioner for the armed forces said in her annual report that the German military still has “too little of everything.”
“The Bundeswehr is aging and shrinking,” said Eva Hoegl, acknowledging at the time that “the personnel issue has very clearly ended up on the political agenda.”
In light of perceived increasing threats from Russia, other European countries are also considering new forms of military service.
In Britain, the ruling Conservative Party said in May that all 18-year-olds in the country would have to serve a year of compulsory military or civilian service if it won the July 4 national election.
