Bundeswehr: Pistorius wants handling for mandatory military service

Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) also formulates basic prerequisites for activating compulsory military service in an emergency with the planned new military service. In the draft law, the Federal Government gives the opportunity to “arrange the mandatory use of conscripts with the consent of the German Bundestag if the defense policy situation requires this,” the “mirror” quoted from paper.

According to the design, a convening should also be possible if the defense policy situation “requires a short -term growth of the armed forces, which is not available on a voluntary basis”. As a prerequisite, however, it is also mentioned that measures to increase the attractiveness of military service do not lead to sufficient voluntary applications in good time.

More money should increase attractiveness

It is planned to start with 15,000 new military service providers and to introduce a mandatory pattern from 2027. The pool to which the new military service is aimed is the age group of 18 to 25 year olds.

Pistorius also pursues several approaches to make the service more attractive. Among them is also a higher soldier. For this purpose, military service providers will in future be paid as time soldiers and thus receive more than 2000 euros net monthly.

Pistorius has to fight in his party

The SPD politician wants to present the draft law to the cabinet at the end of August. In their coalition agreement, the Union and the SPD had agreed on a military service “which initially is based on voluntariness”. The word “conscription” does not occur. Here the SPD prevailed in the negotiations against the CDU/CSU.

At the SPD party conference at the end of June, however, there was a severe dispute over the option of a mandatory military service in the new law. The open conflict could be averted. After hours of crisis talks, the Jusos changed an initiative application that would have rejected the anchoring of a compulsory military service in the planned draft law.

“We do not want an activable legal option to use conscripts before not all measures to increase voluntary increase.

The money for more defense is already there

The compulsory military service was suspended in 2011, but is still anchored in the Basic Law. It can be reintroduced with a simple majority of the Union and SPD government coalition. The Basic Law would have to be changed for a general duty of duty, which then also applies to women. The necessary majority cannot currently be seen.

The declared goal was recently 203,000 active soldiers in the armed forces. According to the new NATO goals, the Bundeswehr must achieve a personnel strength of at least 60,000 additional men and women and 200,000 reservists.

But politicians and security experts urge speed in defense. They indicate the massive upgrade of Russia, with which President Vladimir Putin gets military skills beyond the needs of the Ukraine War.

Now the soldiers are still missing

At its summit in Haag, NATO committed itself to raising the defense spending in an unprecedented manner. This was under the impression of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and at the urging of US President Donald Trump.

From 2035 at the latest, five percent of gross domestic product is to be invested in defense and security annually, as much as since the Cold War. So far, the goal was two percent. Now at least 3.5 percent of the gross domestic product should be spent on covering “core requirements in the defense area”. In addition, 1.5 percent of expenses for military -usable infrastructure or fight against terrorism are counted.

In the Bundeswehr, the number of soldiers had dropped again slightly last year despite more settings, while the average age rose. At the end of 2024 there were around 181,150 soldiers, the Department of Defense had declared. A year earlier, on December 31, 2023, there were around 181,500 men and women in uniform. In the meantime, the Department of Defense is reported on a trend reversal.