Volunteer service is not enough
Patrick Sensburg's message to the RND editorial board shows that restoring compulsory military service in Germany could gain public support, which should be taken into account by the Bundestag. Sensburg besides pointed out the declining number of soldiers, which he felt was the consequence of adverse demographic trends specified as low natural growth and an ageing population. It so considers that re-entry is necessary.
Volunteer service is not enough. Therefore, we should reconstruct compulsory military service," said the Head of the Association of German Armed Forces Reserveists.
The German Chancellor Friedrich Merz referred to Patrick Sensburg's position, who admitted that the request to reconstruct compulsory military service was becoming increasingly real. He assessed that the decision to suspend it in 2011 was incorrect, although he pointed out that the current plans of the government do not presume a return to the erstwhile collection model.
According to the provisions of the coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, the military service would initially be based on the rule of voluntaryity. However, the introduction of a mandatory service would require a formal decision by the Bundestag.
Bad idea?
The German defence minister Boris Pistorius, associated with the SPD, referred critically to the CDU/CSU proposal to return rapidly to compulsory military service. In his assessment, the accelerated introduction of specified a solution is not a good idea. Although he did not regulation out this anticipation in the future, he pointed out that there are now serious logistical constraints. Despite increased investments in military infrastructure, Germany inactive does not have adequate barracks and groundbreakings to handle the general collection system.
Pistorius stressed that if national safety can be ensured through a volunteer service model, the government will search to keep it. The figures confirm the scale of the problem. According to estimates, German Minister Bundeswehra lacks between 50 and 60,000 soldiers, while the current position of the armed forces Germany is over 180,000.
The Minister besides pointed out that he did not share the position of those who explicitly opposed the restoration of compulsory military service. At this stage, however, it is hard to find whether specified a step is essential in the future.
