Overview

• Germany's black-red coalition plans a new voluntary military service model requiring fitness and motivation questionnaires for all service-age men, with optional participation for women.
• A YouGov poll shows 56% of Germans support the proposal, though 42% of 18- to 29-year-olds oppose it, reflecting generational divides on the issue.
• The Bundeswehr faces recruitment challenges, with active personnel dropping to 182,857 as of January 2025 and the average age rising to 34 years.
• Chancellor Olaf Scholz, while recalling his own civilian service, emphasized the need for more soldiers and his long-standing support for conscription.
• The new model aims to rebuild structures dismantled after conscription was suspended in 2011 and adapt to heightened security concerns following the Ukraine war.