Pistorius says compulsory military service should be reinstated in the hope of closing the need for a shortage of recruits, Junge Welt reports.
The Bundeswehr’s special fund of 100 billion euros allocated for armaments in 2022 has already been almost fully utilised. The “Operation Germany Plan” has been being tested since the end of March. On 4 April, the War Minister announced the creation of a new General Staff and on 30 April signed the “Osnabrück Decree.” This is the fourth decree of its kind in the history of the Bundeswehr – which he said was “the formal basis for a command organisation capable of waging war”. Now soldiers continue to go missing.
Over the past few days, the minister has repeatedly voiced proposals to solve the problem. On Thursday in Washington, he called the suspension of compulsory military service in 2011 a “mistake”. Earlier, the Welt am Sonntag newspaper reported on three models of conscription that were presented to Pistorius.
On Sunday, the newspapers Bild am Sonntag and Neue Zürcher Zeitung also quoted from the draft. The first proposal does not envisage compulsory service, but voluntary completion of a questionnaire by all registered members of the one-year group – some 750,000 men and women. Volunteers would then be recruited. However, according to the ministry, this option is the “least promising”.
The second model involves “reintroducing compulsory selection under the Basic Law” to cover the need for “between 30,000 and 40,000” recruits per year. Women would still be selected on a voluntary basis, while online questionnaires and a possible medical examination would be mandatory for men. This would be a “strong political signal” and “suitable in terms of manpower planning”, but alternative service would have to be revived.
The third option is “gender-neutral compulsory military service”, to be followed by “universal compulsory service”. This could include fire brigades, medical services or technical assistance organisations. Without universal compulsory service, the issue of military service equity is “critical,” but with it, it is unproblematic. According to civil servants, this is “the most promising option in terms of meeting demand.” However, it would require amendments to the Basic Law.
With the help of the CDU and the CSU, this should not be a problem. At a party conference in Berlin on Tuesday, the CDU called to include “compulsory forced military service” in its new basic programme. Pistorius commented in the US:
“I am happy that the CDU/CSU is moving along a similar path to the one I have developed so far.”
CSU leader Markus Söder tried to catch up with Pistorius’ pace and demanded in the Bild am Sonntag newspaper:
“A master plan for the introduction of compulsory military service must be drawn up quickly.”
According to a poll conducted by the newspaper, 46% are in favour and 33% against. The opposition continues to dominate the ruling parties, but SPD leader Lars Klingbeil told the Rheinische Post newspaper on Friday:
“It is up to each young citizen to decide whether he or she can imagine serving the country.”
On the same day, the parliamentary commissioner for the armed forces, Eva Högl (SPD), demanded in the “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” that the Bundeswehr finally reach the legally prescribed proportion of women of 20 per cent instead of the current 13 per cent. Pistorius is working on this.
