German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius proposed on Wednesday that the country require young men to register for possible military service, a move that comes 13 years after Germany effectively abolished national service.
Pistorius presented the plan as a basis for quickly strengthening the German army, known as the Bundeswehr, which has seen recruitment numbers dwindle.
It is planned that an additional 5,000 conscripts will initially be recruited from the pool of 400,000 candidates in any given year from 2025, with more to follow. “The aim is to grow this number year after year and thus increase capacity,” Pistorius said, adding: “We must control this growth.”
The new model will consist of a basic military service of six months with an option for additional voluntary military service of up to seventeen months.
This step would not restore conscription. Pistorius instead emphasized that he plans to use the registration questionnaires to see who might be interested in volunteering to serve in the Bundeswehr.
Pistorius described the idea as ‘selective military service’, intended to allow the army to call up only ‘the strongest, most suitable and most motivated’ for training.
Young men would have to complete the questionnaires, but young women would also be given copies and asked to submit the form voluntarily as well, Pistorius said at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Pistorius said this is because military conscription, which is still in the German constitution, only applies to men.
The threat situation is completely different from a few years ago and Russia is waging a war against Ukraine in violation of international law, Pistorius said in justification.
Russia has massively increased its defense spending, is building weapons systems and has transitioned to a war economy. “The verbal attacks against NATO countries and other neighboring states are visibly and audibly increasing,” Pistorius said.
About 40,000 are expected to be collected
Pistorius said military planners estimate that 400,000 people will have to complete the planned questionnaire each year, and that about a quarter of the men could express an interest in the army.
About 40,000 candidates could then participate in the physical check. That call would be mandatory for those who receive it, but Pistorius stressed that he expects to only call those who voluntarily express interest.
“We don’t want boring, meaningless military service,” Pistorius said. “But rather a military service that is meaningful and logical.”
Pistorius said: “According to Bundeswehr and NATO estimates, we need around 200,000 additional reservists. That means we are talking about a total of about 460,000 soldiers.”
The target is therefore 203,000 standing forces, 60,000 current reservists and 200,000 additional reservists. The Bundeswehr currently has just under 181,000 men and women and approximately 60,000 reservists.
The proposal represents a first step toward possibly reintroducing some form of compulsory military service, a controversial issue in Germany, and would require an amendment to the military service law.
Pistorius stressed on Wednesday that no one would be forced to serve in the army against their will or beliefs: “Of course people will have the right to refuse military service. That remains unchanged.”
Those who sign up will receive more than €1,800 per month and a bonus of, for example, €5,000 if they sign up for more than six months.
Military personnel have difficulty recruiting
Germany effectively abolished conscription in 2011 after 55 years, with a system that also generally allowed men to opt out of the military and do civilian service instead.
Although many of the institutions and facilities for the conscription system have since been dismantled, the law of the land continues to allow compulsory conscription in the event of war or other tensions.
The Bundeswehr has struggled to recruit enough volunteers to fill its ranks, shrinking to 181,500 soldiers last year despite new efforts to attract volunteers.
Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine has once again spotlighted the military’s shortcomings, and Chancellor Olaf Scholz vowed to rebuild the armed forces in response to what he called a turning point, or Zeitenwende in German.
Adding more recruits is intended to make the army “war-ready,” as Pistorius put it.
Pistorius ordered a study into different models of conscription ahead of Wednesday’s announcement.
Mixed response from politicians
The proposal received mixed reactions from leading German politicians in parliament. The idea of reintroducing military conscription is highly controversial in the country.
Some lawmakers welcomed the proposal as a useful idea to address the military manpower shortage, while many expressed hesitation about the mandatory elements.
Bundeswehr Association sees test case for ‘Zeitenwende’
The chairman of the Bundeswehr Association, Colonel André Wüstner, had called for decisive steps in favor of a new military service before Pistorius’ plans became known.
Staff levels in the Bundeswehr fell this month to their lowest level since 2018, Wüstner told dpa in Berlin.
“In the coming days it will become clear who has actually reached a turning point, at least in terms of defense policy, since the turning point was declared,” Wüstner said.
“Because anyone who claims this – and I hope at least the specialist politicians do – will not be able to make a general statement against a new form of military service or a new type of compulsory military service.”
Chancellor Olaf Scholz declared a ‘Zeitenwende’ or historic turning point in the country’s defense policy following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
