Overview
- Thomas Röwekamp says a nationwide muster of entire male cohorts is necessary to know the personnel available for defense and to strengthen the forces purposefully.
- He proposes transparent selection methods from screened year-groups, including a lottery, graded fitness categories, or needs-based profiles aligned with Bundeswehr requirements.
- Röwekamp links the debate to plans to lift troop strength toward 260,000, arguing that criteria for actual call-up must be defined in advance.
- Generalinspekteur Carsten Breuer has urged screening of full year-groups, and Defense Minister Boris Pistorius also supports universal mustering.
- The draft Wehrdienstgesetz has passed a first Bundestag reading and targets a 1 January start based on voluntariness, as youth groups led by Daniela Broda of the Bundesjugendring criticize signals of a prepared compulsory framework and plan to testify in committee.