German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for nationwide military conscription over fears of conflict spillover amid the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.
Compulsory military service was revoked in Germany in 2011. Despite being inactive, the country maintains a framework for a draft that requires all able-bodied adults to register for military service.
While the current framework only includes males, the inclusion of women in the draft would require a constitutional amendment.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, the president said the country must prepare for the possibility that voluntary enlistment will fall short of providing the numbers required for the army.
“I am an advocate of conscription because I believe that with the changing security situation in Europe, with the fact that a war is taking place, and with the conclusions we have drawn from it to better protect ourselves, the personnel structure of the Bundeswehr also needs to be adapted,” he said.
Germany aims to create a backup system to add 5,000 more troops each year until it reaches the 30,000 mark by 2029. German military numbers are falling as a result of the inaction on necessary conscription.
Steinmeier said, “We need this debate now, preferably with a positive outcome, so that if there are not enough volunteers, we will probably return to a different form of conscription than the one we have already abolished.”
Since the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in February 2022, Germany has been working to strengthen its military, citing security threats from Russia.
Meanwhile, Moscow has rejected claims that it would attack NATO countries, dismissing them as “nonsense” and accusing Western leaders of deliberately alarming their citizens to justify increasing defence budgets.
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