Germany wants to legislate compulsory military service before 2025
The German Defense Minister, Social Democrat Boris Pistorius, had already openly admitted at the Munich Security Conference in late February that he was sympathetic to the Swedish model of conscription for military service. In Sweden, all secondary school graduates pass a medical examination, after which the army selects those who are physically prepared for a career as a soldier and calls them up.
What is happening in recent years is that, among those selected, a large number of people purposefully volunteer for military service, so that, on the other hand, forced conscription can be allowed if necessary. Pistorius set out yesterday on a three-day visit to neighboring Nordic countries, in which he hopes to gather more accurate information about the different models of military service in Scandinavia.
Behind the scenes of ‘Traffic Light Coalition’ Olaf Scholz Of which the Greens and the liberals of the FDP are also part, Pistorius is already working on models for the return of compulsory military service in Germany.
In an internal directive of the German Defense Ministry, published by ‘Der Spiegel’ this Tuesday, it is also underlined that “the Federal Minister intends to take a decision on the direction of compulsory military service before the end of this legislative period.” This would mean the matter had passed through the Bundestag before the next general election in 2025.
German Chancellor Olaf Scholz visits KSK special forces in Calv
reuters
The document shows that the political department has been instructed by April 1 to “present options for a German military service model that contributes to the resilience of the entire state in a scalable manner in the short term” and that the first meeting of the working group on this matter. But it happened last week. Pistorius apparently wants to accelerate the project and introduce a model that can effectively help the Bundeswehr recruit.
The document was published just yesterday, hours before Pistorius was to begin his visit to the Nordic countries, after the Green partners were heavily punished in the polls as they abandoned a large part of their traditional policies and that is leading to the European elections in June. Were moving towards. They only got 10% of the votes, they wanted to stop Pistorius.
“We, liberals, want an army of motivated professionals with good salaries
“It’s not an option”
The Greens’ defense policy spokeswoman Sarah Nannini said that “I also believe that a viable solution to the personnel problems in the military before the end of the legislative period is desirable, but as conscription is not yet an option, it would be difficult for younger generations to be This will alienate and reduce the acceptance of soldiers in society, so we must continue to rely on voluntary action. “We, liberals, want an army of motivated professionals with good wages, who for their own intrinsic motivation Wanting to defend our country,” Alexander Müller said, “compulsory military service in peacetime is a serious violation of civil liberties, professional freedoms and to plan one’s own life, which is why we reject it.
A barrage of calls to the Berlin Chancellery and pressure exerted by government partners forced Pistorius to downgrade his initiative, removing references to the calendar. Before leaving for Oslo, the German Defense Minister confirmed that he was addressing the issue of compulsory military service, but clarified that “no preliminary decisions have been taken yet.”
Regarding the internal document leaked to the press, he limited himself to saying that “Der Spiegel is usually very well informed, but in this case it is even better informed than I am.” He stressed the need to analyze and discuss possible models for reintroducing compulsory military service in Germany today and specified that the models are currently being reviewed. He acknowledged that this matter is one of the main objectives of his visit and acknowledged the sentiment “A certain weakness” By Swedish model. “I am going to form an opinion, I will consult some political colleagues as to what is the right path, what is the right model and whether it will happen in 2025 or a year later, we will see,” he said. Specifying that “we must see whether what is being discussed is only compulsory military service or also compulsory service.” He added, “These are discussions that we have just begun to raise, but we “It must be maintained, I am convinced of that.”
conservative support
And although his idea causes blisters among his coalition partners, the conservative opposition is quite open to the idea and is willing to cast its votes in the Bundestag. “The Swedish model could certainly be a model to follow in some aspects, especially in general military registration,” supported the project. Serap Guler, Defense spokesperson of the CDU parliamentary group. “It is good that the Defense Minister is vigorously addressing the issue of recruitment, but we also continue to advocate a social year in which the Bundeswehr is one of many sponsors, but which promotes flexibility throughout society. , width through it.
However, Sahra Wagenknecht from the far left rejected the measure: “It is bad enough that the communications disaster in the Bundeswehr caused by the use of Taurus missiles has led to speculation about Germany’s entry into the war in Russia. Pistorius now mandates Fueling such speculation with the debate over the resumption of military service is more than stupid,” he criticized, adding, “Instead of relegating young people to the barracks for a valuable year of their lives, we should be giving them a meaningful There is a need for a social year and a return to a traditional foreign policy of restraint, committed to resolving conflicts through diplomacy.