Calls grow in Germany to revive compulsory military service

BERLIN: Germany's conservatives, who are set to lead the next government, on Tuesday (Mar 4) argued that the country should quickly reintroduce compulsory military service.

Friedrich Merz, head of the CDU/CSU bloc that topped last month's elections, has argued that in the era of US President Donald Trump, Europe will have to better handle its own security.

The defence policy spokesman of his centre-right alliance, Florian Hahn, told Bild daily that Germany's "suspension of conscription no longer fits the current threat situation".

"The first conscripts will have to walk through the barracks gates in 2025," Hahn told the daily. "We cannot stand by and watch as the world around us becomes more unsafe."

Fears about the future strength of NATO have surged in Europe, not least after Trump recently sided repeatedly with long-isolated Russia against Ukraine, upending the Western consensus of recent years.

Merz has vowed to break with many policies of former CDU chancellor Angela Merkel, including on migration, but also on her 2011 decision to suspend compulsory military service.

This week, Merz reiterated that he would favour the reintroduction of a compulsory year in which young people could perform either military or community service.

"We need a much higher personnel strength in the armed forces," he said.

"I am not committing myself to any numbers now, but we cannot manage with the current number and we also need a much stronger reserve."

"PERSONNEL PROBLEMS"

Although conscription has been highly controversial in Germany for a long time, support for bringing back some form of military service has grown across political party lines.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, from the Social Democrats (SPD) of outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz, has pushed the idea of building up the armed forces, though without conscription.

He has promoted a model that relies on voluntary service but also allows the country to make conscription compulsory if needed.

In a first step, the outgoing Scholz cabinet in November signed off on plans for a new model under which all 18-year-olds would be sent a questionnaire about their interest in the army and their physical condition.

All young men would be required to return the questionnaire, while for women it would be voluntary.

A contingent of young men and women would then be invited to a selection process and some recruited for an initial six-month stint of military service, with the option of extending.

German Armed Forces Association chairman Andre Wuestner also spoke out on Tuesday in favour of starting conscription based on the so-called Swedish model, and to improve pay and conditions.

"We have to start this year, otherwise we risk imploding in terms of personnel starting next year," he told Welt TV.

"We have enormous problems in terms of personnel. It's about the need to regenerate about 27,000 people a year who leave the armed forces and need to be recruited back."

The CDU/CSU bloc is currently in exploratory talks with the SPD towards building a coalition government, with Merz eyeing an Easter deadline.

The ex-foreign minister of the Greens, Joschka Fischer, also argued that Germany must reintroduce compulsory military service.

"I was in favour of abolishing it," he told news weekly Stern. "That was a mistake that we must reverse."

"Compulsory military service must be reintroduced, for both sexes. Without this step, we will not make any progress in protecting Europe."