Overview
- Thomas Röwekamp called for full-cohort medical screening and transparent rules for selecting conscripts, proposing options such as a lottery, graded fitness assessments, or needs-based profiles.
- Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer backed universal screening and rejected a lottery, arguing the forces must know the entire eligible pool and not rely on random selection.
- Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’s draft law begins with voluntary service, and the governing parties remain divided over any automatic shift to compulsory service if volunteers fall short.
- A mid-October SPD–Union compromise to use a lottery for mandatory screening collapsed, and a parliamentary hearing with experts is scheduled for November 10.
- The German Youth Council opposes reinstating conscription, citing existing pressures on young people, and polling shows roughly three-quarters view a draft lottery as unfair.