Germany has changed its mind about restoring military conscription

Germany has changed its mind about restoring military conscription

Kyiv  •  UNN

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German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has presented a plan to create a new model of military service based primarily on voluntary service, without reintroducing compulsory military conscription.

The issue of a return to compulsory conscription in Germany was not in the presentation of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, who had presented a plan to create a new military service the day before . Pistorius presented a model that is largely based on voluntary service. UNN reports this with reference to SPIEGEL. 

Details 

Defense Minister Borys Pistorius on Mon. May 27, for the first time presented the main provisions of his plans to create a new military service.

According to SPIEGEL, he presented a model that is largely based on voluntary service. Instead of compulsory military service, young people will be persuaded to volunteer for the Bundeswehr in the future with incentives such as free driving licenses.

However, the return to compulsory military service was in Pistorius' presentation, the publication notes. The word "conscription" was not even mentioned. 

Instead, the minister is thinking about organizing a kind of draft questionnaire for all adult Germans in the future, in which they will have to provide information about their physical fitness. For this measure, he will only have to change some data protection rules. 

The model envisioned by Pistorius is only an extension of this voluntary service in the Bundeswehr.

In addition to the idea of paying for the driver's license of young recruits, the German Ministry of Defense is considering other incentive models. For example, access to university courses could be made easier for people who have completed voluntary military service, and discounts on student loan repayments and language courses are also being considered. The new service is expected to last about twelve months.

Currently, there are about 181,500 soldiers in the German army , and by 2031 their number should reach 203,000. 

Recall 

In April, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius announced the reorganization of the country's armed forces to make them fit for war against the backdrop of Russian aggression. 

The Minister also said at the time: "We have considered the issue of reintroducing compulsory military service," although this issue is not currently under consideration.

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