Germany German Bundestag passes law for new military service
The German Bundestag has given the green light for the new military service.
05.12.2025, 11:48
SDA
A majority of MPs voted in favor of a government bill on Friday, which provides for the mandatory conscription of young men and the reintroduction of the draft. However, voluntary service still applies.
In a roll-call vote, 323 MPs voted in favor of the law. A total of 272 MPs voted against. There was one abstention.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius had previously appealed for approval in the Bundestag. Freedom of expression, freedom to demonstrate, freedom of religion and the state "do not protect themselves by themselves", said the Social Democrat politician "People who are prepared to stand up for them must do so, not those who stand behind the garden fence and wait for others to do so."
Following a dispute between Christian Democrats and Social Democrats, the plans now envisage that the Bundestag will decide on a so-called compulsory military service if targets for the expansion of the Bundeswehr are not met.
New military service starts in January
Military service is to last at least six months and be paid at least 2,600 euros gross per month. There are additional incentives for longer commitments of twelve months or more.
From next year, all young men and women born in 2008 or later will receive a personal questionnaire that also asks about their motivation for military service. Men must answer this questionnaire, women can, as the Basic Law does not provide for compulsory military service for women.
For all men born on or after January 1, 2008, conscription will once again be compulsory. In practice, however, it will not take effect until later.
The Bundesrat (the upper house of the German federal states) is due to discuss the law before Christmas.
Number of soldiers recently increased slightly for the first time
According to official figures, the Bundeswehr had 184,242 active soldiers at the end of October, including 12,062 voluntary conscripts. The numbers have therefore risen again for the first time this year. However, according to the new NATO targets, Germany needs 460,000 soldiers in an emergency, including 260,000 men and women in the active forces.
Compulsory military service was suspended in Germany in 2011 under Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) after 55 years. At the same time, structures for compulsory military service were dissolved. The existing Conscription Act also stipulates that compulsory military service for men is revived if the Bundestag declares a state of tension and defense. However, hardly any concrete provisions have been made for this eventuality to date.
CDU politician: Voluntary service to be reviewed by summer 2027
The Chairman of the Defense Committee, Thomas Röwekamp (CDU), is insisting on a decision on the reactivation of compulsory military service by summer 2027 if there are not enough volunteers for the Bundeswehr.
Speaking to Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland (RND), Röwekamp described the law on a new military service as a "political compromise between two very different political views". He hoped that the increase in personnel would succeed on a voluntary basis.
In protest against the plans for military service, young people took to the streets in several German cities - and did not go to school. Protests were announced in Berlin, Hamburg, Düsseldorf, Dresden and Munich, among other places, according to an overview by the "School strike against compulsory military service" initiative.
"We don't want to end up as cannon fodder," reads an appeal on Instagram. Protests against the military service plans also took place in front of the Bundestag.
