Germany wants to encourage military service, without coercion

Germany wants to encourage young people to serve in the military, by introducing a mandatory list of potential recruits, with the aim of strengthening the national defense in the face of increasing threats from the invasion of Ukraine, the Minister of Defense announced on Wednesday.

On their 18th birthday, the young people will be contacted by the German army, the Bundeswehr. “They will receive a questionnaire that they will be required to fill out if they are young men – so there will be a corresponding legal obligation,” Minister Boris Pistorius explained to journalists. For women, the answer will be optional.

On Wednesday, he unveiled his long-awaited concept for a “new military service” in a country where funding to strengthen the Bundeswehr, short of men and resources, is one of the most hotly debated topics at the moment.

“We don’t want to go back” to the old mandatory military service suspended in 2011, assured Mr. Pistorius.

On the other hand, he wants that thanks to this future list “the number of new recruits in the army will increase every year”.
The idea of ​​the questionnaire is to interest young people, as well as to select the most suitable or motivated ones for the army and invite them for an interview.

“We are counting on a sufficient number of voluntary responses for sampling, and after sampling we will have an accurate picture of young men and women who are particularly motivated to dedicate themselves to our country,” added the Social Democrats. the minister.

He hopes that this “new model” will attract an additional 5,000 young soldiers a year.

Young people who had served their military service would then join the ranks of reserve soldiers. The long-term goal is to increase the strength of the Bundeswehr to 460,000 soldiers – about 200,000 permanently active in the army, the rest in reserve.

Despite the recruitment campaign, the number of active military personnel fell to 181,500 last year.

Boris Pistorius, currently Germany’s most popular political figure, has been insisting for months on the need for the army to be trained for war to ensure the country’s defense and play its role in NATO.

After a Cold War funding freeze, Germany has been investing heavily for two years to speed it up, but the minister is demanding more funding.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and with him the majority of the SPD (social democrats) and the Greens, allies within the government coalition, have so far advocated a complete voluntary action.

Conservatives, in the opposition, advocate the re-introduction of compulsory service, including for young women, with the possibility of performing service of general interest.

AFP

World news, AFP