Overview

• SPD secretary general Tim Klüssendorf said the governing coalition has agreed the new military service will be voluntary and rebuked conservative criticism.
• Chancellor Friedrich Merz argued a voluntary model will not deliver enough recruits and backed both reinstating conscription and a general societal year that would require a Basic Law change.
• The first parliamentary debate on the Wehrdienst legislation, originally slated for this week, was postponed to the week after next.
• Defense Minister Boris Pistorius’ draft aims for tens of thousands of volunteers annually and provides a conscription fallback without automatic numeric triggers or dates, which the Union denounces as too vague.
• Germany’s armed forces count about 182,000 personnel, with reporting citing a shortfall of roughly 80,000 to meet NATO’s benchmark near 260,000.