Germany’s government has given the green light to a draft law that paves the way for the return of national service.
The legislation will allow Berlin to gauge the willingness of the country’s 18-year-olds to serve in Germany’s army, the Bundeswehr.
Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine has prompted a major rethink in German political circles and wider society about obligatory military service.
The country scrapped national service in 2011, after years of seeming detente with Russia.
Berlin, though, now wants to boost its pool of soldiers in the face of a growing threat from a more aggressive Russia.
The Bundeswehr currently has 180,000 soldiers, which it wants to increase to 203,000 by 2031, as well as 60,000 reservists.
The aim is to reach 200,000 more reservists, which would enable Germany to swiftly expand its troops to around 460,000 in the event of war.
Under the model proposed by the German government, all men turning 18 – which is estimated to be about 300,000 in 2025 – will have to fill out a digital survey on their interest in joining the army.
Young women will also be sent the survey but are not obliged to fill out the form.
When German conscription ended in 2011, Berlin stopped the registration of 18-year-olds for military call-ups.
This means that currently no reliable database exists of those able and willing to serve in the army in the event of war.
The questionnaire looks to rectify this problem and the Bundeswehr will pick “the best and most motivated candidates”.
Those chosen will then do a period of between six to 23 months of military service.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz recently held talks with Nato’s new boss Mark Rutte, in which he once again voiced his opposition to Ukraine joining the military allaince.
The under pressure Scholz, whose government stands on the brink of collapse, suggested that Ukraine should remain neutral like Finland once was.
Nicolas Tenzer, a senior French civil servant and writer, said Scholz’s alleged proposal was tantamount to “outright treason”.
In a post to his X social media channel, he wrote: “The most generous hypothesis is that of @Bundeskanzler Scholz’s strategic stupidity.
“There are others…Ultimately more worrying than Hungary & Slovakia.”
