Is conscription coming back? This is how Pistorius wants to win new recruits

Is conscription coming back? This is how Pistorius wants to win new recruits

The Bundeswehr is lacking new recruits. That is why Boris Pistorius (SPD) wants to reorganize military service. Is conscription coming back?

The Bundeswehr must become “war-ready.” Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) has repeatedly emphasized this. A crucial element of this is that the force should get more soldiers again. On Wednesday afternoon, Pistorius presented a plan for this. “The threat situation is completely different than it was just a few years ago,” he said, referring to the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.

What does Pistorius’ proposal entail?

In the future, 18-year-old men will be required to fill out an online conscription questionnaire. Pistorius estimates that 400,000 people will do this each year. In it, they will be asked to provide information about their physical condition and their willingness to do military service.

Pistorius expects that a quarter of them are basically ready to serve. Between 40,000 and 50,000 will then be invited to the conscription. However, they will still be able to refuse military service, says Pistorius. 18-year-old women will also receive the questionnaire. However, they will not be obliged to answer it and will not have to appear for the conscription if they are invited.

This will initially result in 5,000 additional soldiers being trained each year – in addition to the 10,000 or so volunteers already serving in the military. According to Pistorius, this would cost 1.4 billion euros. Training capacities will then be gradually increased. Military service will last six months with the voluntary option of extending it.

This will be accompanied by an expansion of the registration and recruitment structures. These were massively reduced after the suspension of conscription in 2011. “We wouldn’t even be able to mobilize in the event of a defense because we wouldn’t know who we could draft,” said Pistorius. This is an “unsustainable situation.” He left open how exactly this will be achieved in the future. However, “the old district military recruitment offices will not be resurrected.”

The lack of structures is also the “limiting factor” why only 5,000 additional recruits are to be trained initially. If it were up to him, 20,000 new soldiers would be trained every year, said Pistorius.

This means that there would be no conscription for the time being. If not enough recruits can be found, “we will of course have to think about a compulsory option,” said Pistorius. However, he does not believe that this will be necessary.

Why shouldn’t women be required to undergo conscription?

Pistorius argues that a constitutional amendment would be necessary to make women obligatory. The same applies to a general military service obligation for men and women. Such a process would take far too long, argues Pistorius. The earliest that it could be dealt with is 2026. “We don’t have that time.” However, the Bundestag has already quickly amended the constitution for the special fund during this legislative period.

Why does Pistorius want to reform military service at all?

The Bundeswehr wants to grow to 203,000 soldiers by 2031. But it is far from reaching this goal. With 180,517 soldiers, the troop strength is at its lowest level since 2018. And there is one main reason for this: the Bundeswehr has a problem recruiting new recruits. The number of applications has been declining for years, while the number of graduates has recently increased. In addition, the number of reservists has also fallen sharply since conscription was suspended in 2011. According to Pistorius, there are currently 60,000 reservists. “We need around 200,000 more reservists.”

Time is running out. Before the Pistorius plans became known, the chairman of the German Armed Forces Association, Colonel André Wüstner, called for decisive steps towards a new military service. “The coming days will show who has actually seen a change in their understanding, at least in terms of defense policy, since the announcement of the turning point,” the association’s head told dpa. According to information from “Spiegel,” the German Defense Ministry even assumes that NATO’s defense plans require a personnel target of “significantly more than 272,000” soldiers.

Can Pistorius’ plan close the personnel gap?

Not even the minister himself believes this is the case. “Conscripts can never permanently replace standing armed forces,” said Pistorius. However, he hopes that the invitation to the draft will encourage more young people to choose a career as a professional soldier. This is the experience from the Scandinavian countries. Pistorius based his own plan on the regulations there.

How is conscription currently regulated?

The Russian war of aggression against Ukraine has reignited the debate about reintroducing conscription. Conscription is actually enshrined in the Basic Law. Article 12a states that men aged 18 and over are required to serve in the armed forces. Until 2011, this was how it was: all young men were examined. Anyone who did not want to join the armed forces had to perform an alternative service, for example in the form of civilian service.

However, since the Conscription Act was amended 13 years ago, conscription has been suspended. As long as the Bundestag does not declare a state of defense or its precursor, a state of tension, men do not have to perform military or civilian service. This has never happened before in the history of the Federal Republic.

What happens next?

Pistorius wants to complete the legislative process by spring 2025. The Bundestag must decide on any changes to the conscription law. The FDP reacted cautiously to the minister’s plans on Wednesday. He thinks the questionnaire is a good idea, said Alexander Müller, the Liberals’ defense policy spokesman. “If it’s a case of a light conscription, where people are selected according to certain criteria and obliged to do military service, it will be difficult with the Free Democrats.”

The question of whether women should be required to serve could also be discussed. FDP defense expert Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann wrote on Platform X that younger women would also have to fill out a mandatory questionnaire “in the interests of military justice.” “The concentration on young men pushed by the minister is unlikely to be sustainable.”

Source: Stern

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