The question for Friedrich Merz was clear.

The questioner at the WDR's Europaforum wanted to know from the CDU chairman on Thursday whether "Zeitenwende" also means for him that conscription will be reintroduced in Germany.

After all, other countries would have a “completely different mobilization” for their armies.

Or whether the topic was ticked off for him.

"No," Merz replied.

He said “not at all”.

"On the contrary." There is an interesting discussion about it in the party.

"Probably" a decision will be made at the CDU federal party conference in September.

Eckhart Lohse

Head of the parliamentary editorial office in Berlin.

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Merz reported that he had just spoken to a group of 50 students from his constituency.

So the question arose, "whether I'm in favor of it or not".

He said: "I can imagine that.

Voluntarily in any case, maybe also mandatory.” Then he asked the students what they thought.

More than eighty percent of them said they were in favor of reintroducing "that."

So far, it was only about conscription, so Merz then specified: "A general compulsory service with the option of doing service in the Bundeswehr, of course." This could also happen with the Technical Relief Agency, the German Red Cross or other aid organizations.

Even if his conversation with the students was not a representative survey, he had the impression that the "population is ready

Linnemann positions himself clearly

Merz has thus revived a discussion that the then CDU General Secretary Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer had started almost four years ago.

It shouldn't just be about men, and not just about conscription, but about universal conscription.

On the one hand, the change in leadership in the CDU caused the matter to be forgotten.

On the other hand, due to the pandemic, no party conferences could take place with the presence required for a program debate.

So now Merz wants to advance the topic.

This is happening at a time when concerns about the social integration of young people could be combined with the original motive for introducing conscription in the Federal Republic: the recruitment of soldiers.

Since the outbreak of the Ukraine war, the main discussion has been about the inadequate equipment of the German armed forces, but their personnel capabilities could soon also be considered.

After all, the conscript army was originally set up as an instrument of national defence.

For the CDU member of the Bundestag Carsten Linnemann, who is chairman of the policy commission, the topic is of great importance.

He has precise ideas about what should be decided in September.

"With a mandatory year of society, we are strengthening social cohesion," he told the FAZ.

"With a voluntary service, we only reach those who have known for a long time that they are creating social value through their actions."

At least as far as the conscription part of the debate is concerned, the CDU cannot hope for the support of the ruling Social Democrats.

The "unconceptual suspension of conscription" by the Union was a mistake "that can no longer be corrected," said the defense policy spokesman for the SPD parliamentary group, Wolfgang Hellmich, of the FAZ. The Bundeswehr has become a professional army of professional and temporary soldiers further developed, "would only be an unnecessary burden for conscription".