Germany’s government is set to advance a new Wehrdienstgesetz that leans heavily on voluntary service to strengthen the Bundeswehr and expand its reserve.

The plan targets an increase of 60,000 to 80,000 soldiers. Germany’s defence minister Boris Pistorius has indicated conscripts are chiefly intended to create a scalable reserve. From next year, a questionnaire will go out asking who is willing to serve voluntarily; men must respond, women may. A compulsory medical assessment for all young men is envisaged at a later stage.

Pistorius aims to attract up to 5,000 additional personnel per year via military service, alongside measures to make the Bundeswehr more appealing, including higher pay. André Wüstner of the Bundeswehrverband doubts voluntarism will suffice, urging that compulsory elements be prepared and calling for more professionals—career and fixed-term soldiers—and a stronger base of young enlisted ranks, which he says are lacking.

The Union wants conscription to trigger automatically if targets are missed. Pistorius argues a return to past conscription cannot be implemented easily. Friedrich Merz has said missing barracks and instructors mean the law suspended in 2011 could not simply be reactivated.

Conscription was introduced in West Germany in 1956, and six years later in the GDR. It was suspended, not abolished, in 2011. Russia’s 2022 attack on Ukraine has revived the debate.

(Source: Tagesschau)