A bill to be put forward by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius would allow the Cabinet, with parliamentary agreement, to call up conscripts if a situation arises that requires a rapid boost to the country’s armed forces, media have reported.
The bill is being seen as a compromise between some conservatives’ calls for the return of compulsory military service, which was suspended in Germany in 2011, and the opposition of many leftist lawmakers to such a move.
The German government is planning to have a new military service scheme in place by 2026 in response to the changed security situation in Europe largely due to Russia’s territorial aggression.
Such conscription could occur “when the defense situation requires it” and there are not enough volunteers, the news magazine Der Spiegel said, citing the 50-page text of the bill.
The bill also aims to make voluntary service more attractive, with volunteers receiving more than €2,000 ($2,350) a month as official short-service soldiers, Spiegel said, an 80% increase over current pay rates.
According to the magazine, Pistorius hopes this will encourage volunteers to stay on after the basic training has ended, as well as lead to a doubling of the number of reservists to 200,000.
The bill does not stipulate how long basic training is to last, but rumor has it that a period of six months is under consideration, the Spiegel said.
Under new NATO guidelines, the German Bundeswehr would need altogether 460,000 troops in the case of a conflict.
Currently, Germany has more than 182,000 active soldiers and more than 49,000 active reservists. Pistorius would like to see at least 60,000 more active soldiers and altogether 200,000 reservists.
Many in Pistorius’ Social Democratic Party (SPD), particularly its youth wing, oppose the reintroduction of compulsory military service that is advocated by a number of conservative politicians, and the bill is being seen as a compromise between the two viewpoints.
Germany suspended compulsory military service in 2011.
Meanwhile, President Frank-Walter Steinmeier is in Latvia for talks focusing on the security situation in the Baltic region, which would seem particularly under threat from Moscow’s imperialist ambitions.
