Comprehensive screening deters Russia – says Boris Pistorius

Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius considers a muster of all young men to be a deterrent signal to Russia. “If we again screen all men of a year and collect the data of all those fit for military service, this will also be noticed in Russia. In other words: that too is a deterrent!”, .

If a defense situation occurs that needs to be prevented, the basic law states that compulsory military service, which was suspended in 2011, will immediately come into force again. “Then we have to know who is ready for action and who is not,” said the minister.

Pistorius called the abolition of the district military replacement offices associated with the suspension a serious mistake. “We are now setting up new, modern structures. We will be ready from mid-2027. Then we will be able to sample across the board again.”

The black-red coalition presented its plans for military service reform to the Bundestag on Thursday. However, there are still disagreements between the CDU, CSU and SPD – the main issue is which mechanisms should take effect if there are not enough volunteers for the Bundeswehr, as intended by the law.

Pistorius said that Parliament would now have to decide whether there should be a lottery system. “As a ministry, we will of course also get involved here.” It is important to him that voluntary participation is maintained for as long as possible.

Pistorius wants to insist that the military service law comes into force at the beginning of 2026 and was optimistic about an agreement with the parliamentary groups. “I’m confident that we can manage this. Everyone in the Bundestag knows: it’s about Germany’s security.”