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Military Commissioner Eva Högl: "Reversing the suspension of conscription in Germany does not help at all"

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Axel Heimken / dpa

Since 2011, there has been no conscription in Germany. This also eliminated the drafting of young Germans. With a view to recruiting young people in the Bundeswehr, the Commissioner for the Armed Forces, Eva Högl, has now proposed a return to enlistment: In the future, all young people of a cohort could be invited to fitness for fitness. This pattern should be aimed at all genders, Högl demanded in an interview with the news portal "t-online".

The SPD politician spoke out against a return to conscription. But she finds the idea of a mandatory "year of service for Germany" that could be completed in the civilian or military sector "worth discussing." As in Sweden, an entire cohort of young people could be invited to the Bundeswehr for enlistment. And then, if they are fit for military service, let them decide for themselves whether they want to get involved or not."

"We definitely need more personnel in the Bundeswehr"

"Reversing the suspension of conscription in Germany does not help at all," emphasized the Bundestag Commissioner for the Armed Forces. "We don't have enough trainers and we don't have enough infrastructure to do it."

Conscription was suspended twelve years ago – and after 55 years – under the then CSU Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, which in practice amounted to the abolition of military and civilian service. Since the beginning of the Russian attack on Ukraine, the topic has come into focus again. At the beginning of the year, for example, Högl called for a debate to begin now – "also on the question of how much coercion, how much voluntariness is necessary." We definitely need more personnel in the Bundeswehr," she told the Augsburger Allgemeine newspaper at the time.

Chancellor Olaf Scholz and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (both SPD) spoke out clearly against a return to conscription. Pistorius made it clear in February, however, that he sees good arguments for a general duty to strengthen civil protection, the Bundeswehr and rescue services. Young people need to be heard on the issue, he said. The FDP raised legal and political objections to such a duty to serve.

In September, the CDU spoke out at a party congress in favour of the nationwide introduction of a mandatory social year. Where the young people can complete the service should be interpreted as flexibly as possible, "be it in social institutions, in hospitals, in the Bundeswehr, in civil protection at the THW or in the fire brigade, through recognized aid organizations abroad or in sports and culture or with nature and environmental protection associations". About a year ago, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier initiated a debate on the introduction of compulsory social time.

Pistorius recently questioned whether the goal of increasing the Bundeswehr to 203,000 soldiers by 2031 can be met. "I don't dare to predict whether we can reach the number," he said on Thursday during a visit to the Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr in Cologne. Since the corona pandemic, there has been a slump in the number of applicants. They are working to get out of this valley. He cited the shortage of skilled workers and demographic change as reasons. There are currently around 183,000 soldiers in the Bundeswehr.

mrc/dpa