Germany signals return of compulsory military service

BERLIN: Germany may have to bring back compulsory military service if its current voluntary recruitment plan does not deliver enough personnel, the head of the German parliament’s defence committee has said.

Germany is trying to expand its armed forces as it responds to what officials see as a rising threat from Russia and uncertainty over the United States. Berlin has set a target of increasing troop numbers to at least 260,000 by 2035, up from about 185,000 now.

The government introduced a new voluntary military service model in November, alongside mandatory registration for 18-year-old men. But Thomas Roewekamp, a conservative lawmaker who chairs the defence committee, said the early intake had been limited. Between January and May, the programme produced only 530 new recruits even though roughly 300,000 young people had been contacted.

He said Berlin would need to decide by July 31 next year whether the volunteer-based approach could meet the army’s staffing requirements. Roewekamp said the issue would have to be reviewed in depth in the first half of next year, adding that he had doubts the ambitious goals for active troops and reservists could be achieved through voluntary enlistment alone.

Recruitment concerns

Roewekamp said any restored draft would not automatically cover every man turning 18 in a given year, a group estimated at around 350,000. Instead, the military would take in the number of new soldiers needed to meet its annual benchmarks.

He said his main concern was the expansion of career and contract soldiers, describing them as the personnel needed to operate fighter aircraft, ships, tanks and Patriot air defence systems.

Germany has seen several sizeable protests in recent months against a possible return to compulsory service. Roewekamp said he could understand why the issue had created uncertainty. He said that since the suspension of conscription in 2011, Germany had not properly discussed questions of war, peace and defence needs with younger people, and argued that this generation should be engaged directly in that debate.

He also repeated a warning often voiced in Berlin that Russia could be in a position to attack a Nato member state by 2029.

Broader European defence debate

According to Roewekamp, Russian President Vladimir Putin is not focused only on Ukraine but also on liberal Western democracy more broadly. He said Europe needed to rearm urgently and do so independently of the United States.

He linked that need partly to Donald Trump’s plans to reduce American troop numbers in Europe, but also to what he described as Washington’s inability to reliably supply European militaries during repeated international crises. He said Europe should build its own defence capabilities based on actual military requirements rather than industrial interests.

In that context, Roewekamp referred to the failed Future Combat Air System fighter jet project, which he said had collapsed because of rivalry between Dassault and Airbus. He acknowledged that past joint procurement efforts had often been driven by national industrial priorities, including in Germany, but said those involved now understood that such an approach was no longer adequate.

Roewekamp also said he hoped a Nato summit on July 7-8 in Ankara would send a clear signal to Putin. He spoke after what he described as a tougher line by Trump towards Moscow at a recent G7 summit in France, and said it was essential to show unity because, in his view, one of Putin’s objectives was to undermine cohesion within the Nato alliance.