Germany mulls reintroducing conscription
Germany should return to conscription starting in 2025, the country’s armed forces commissioner said on Tuesday (12 March), as the defence ministry is working on a new model inspired by Nordic countries.
Germany abolished the mandatory conscription of male citizens in 2011, but as the government struggles to build Germany’s defensive capacities amid the growing military threat from Russia, a reintroduction is back on the agenda.
The Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces has expressed hope that a new form of conscription could be implemented next term to combat the Bundeswehr’s staff shortages.
“I welcome that the debate on conscription is gaining momentum,” Eva Högl (SPD, S&D) told reporters on Tuesday (12 March) as she presented her annual report on the state of the armed forces.
“If we had something like a rough concept by the end of this term that could be implemented in the next [which starts in 2025], I would be very pleased,” she added.
Her comments came as the annual report highlighted the slow pace of Germany’s military build-up following years of underfunding its armed forces.
The Bundeswehr’s size has shrunk compared to the previous year, and “even in the second year of the Zeitenwende [Germany’s effort to rebuild its armed forces], substantial improvements in personnel, equipment, and infrastructure are still a long way off” the report stated.
Högl noted that a debate on conscription was “urgently needed” and added that the armed forces could also be opened up to EU citizens.
Blueprint by 1 April
The first steps on conscription have been initiated, as German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD, S&D) instructed his ministry to “present options for a German military-service model by 1 April that is scalable and can contribute to the resilience of the nation as a whole, even in the short term, in line with the threat,” Spiegel reported last week.
However, Högl and Pistorius consider Germany’s previous model of mandatory military service of male school-leavers outdated.
Pistorius took inspiration from the blueprint of the Nordic countries, declaring his “soft spot” for the Swedish model on a trip to Scandinavia last week.
The Swedish armed forces have grown a sizeable reservoir of reservists since reintroducing conscription in 2017.
Based on a questionnaire on their skills and interests, roughly a quarter of 18-year-old Swedes are invited to an annual military examination. A smaller fraction are then offered basic military training.
However, as the Greens and the FDP, coalition partners of Pistorius’ SPD, are sceptical, significant progress on the matter over the current term is dubious.
The Greens are principally in favour of drawing up a concept but consider mandatory conscription “the wrong way”, Sara Nanni, the party’s lead MP on defence, told RND.
Germany’s armed forces needed specialists rather than beginners, which would make conscription too costly relative to its benefits, FDP’s Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann (FDP, Renew), the chair of the parliament’s defence committee, claimed.
Berlin says EU should prepare for war by end of decade
Europe could face threats from Russia by the end of the decade, and EU countries need to build up their defence industries to be prepared, German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said during an interview published on Welt am Sonntag on Saturday.
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