Overview

• The draft law embeds a trigger to reinstate conscription only if voluntary recruitment targets are not achieved in coming years
• Defense spending rises to about €108 billion for 2026, including €25.5 billion in special funds to rebuild and expand the Bundeswehr
• A Forsa survey shows 61 percent of Germans back a conditional draft, but support among 18- to 24-year-olds falls to 35 percent
• AfD figures are split over the proposal, with one faction preparing a pro-conscription motion for the Bundestag and others denouncing it as forced service
• A Bundeswehr soldier reports that dense bureaucracy, rather than equipment shortages, poses the greatest hurdle to troop readiness