Conflicts: Bushman: Will not force Ukrainians into military service

Ukraine’s problems in mobilizing soldiers to repel the Russian invasion will have no practical consequences for Ukrainians living in Germany, according to Federal Justice Minister Marco Buschmann. “It will not be the case that we now force people to do conscription or military service against their will,” the FDP politician told the German Press Agency.

It is good that the war refugees from Ukraine were accepted into Germany in an uncomplicated process and were given the opportunity to work. “We are trying to ensure that more people from Ukraine get into work and fewer end up living on citizens’ money,” he added.

Appeal from Kyiv

There is currently discussion in Ukraine about how the army can recruit more soldiers. The military wants to mobilize an additional 450,000 to 500,000 men. The Defense Ministry in Kiev has appealed to Ukrainians abroad who have fled the war to return and defend their homeland. But there are no plans to bring men back from abroad under pressure and call them up.

“I can’t imagine, since our constitution stipulates that no one has to serve as a weapon against their will for German citizens, that we can then force people from other countries to do so,” said Buschmann. Union parliamentary group vice-president Johann Wadephul (CDU), however, showed understanding for the concerns of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. “It is an urgent moral appeal and we should definitely support it politically. These people are here because there is a war going on there – and they simply have to make a contribution to ending this war,” said Wadephul on TV. Channel World.

Bushman against conscription

Buschmann emphasized that he was also against reactivating compulsory military service, as Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had brought up. He believes it is “wrong from both a security policy and a civil rights perspective to try to force young people to do anything against their will.” Weapons technology is so complex today that the Bundeswehr needs “highly qualified professionals”. A short course is not enough.

Buschmann had done community service as a young man, but would do it differently today. “I later withdrew my refusal and also took part in a military exercise at the infantry school in Hammelburg,” he told dpa. He sees some things differently today than he did when he was 17 or 18, partly because times have changed. The early 1990s were characterized by optimism when it came to democracy, free trade and human rights. Today the situation is different: “There is terror, there is autocracy, there is a willingness to take tough action against the values ​​of democracy, the rule of law and human rights, including with military means.”