Overview
- Defense committee chair Thomas Röwekamp renewed calls to muster entire age cohorts and set clear, binding criteria for who would be drafted.
- Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer backed comprehensive mustering and rejected a lottery, favoring selection aligned to defined military needs.
- The governing draft led by the SPD emphasizes an initially voluntary service, while the Union seeks automatic compulsory measures if volunteer numbers fall short after a failed lottery compromise.
- Public skepticism persists as youth groups oppose reviving conscription and polling shows a lottery is widely viewed as unfair.
- Chancellor Friedrich Merz pressed for rapid personnel growth, with roughly 182,000 active troops targeted to rise to about 260,000 plus 200,000 reservists, as lawmakers prepare for the Nov. 10 expert hearing and a planned Jan. 1 start date.