Overview

• The cabinet’s August model prioritizes voluntary six-month service to build forces, with compulsory call-ups left open if recruitment targets are missed.
• Family Minister Karin Prien says the BAFzA is gearing up for a possible return of civil service as more than 1,500 people applied for conscientious-objector status in the first half of 2025.
• CDU deputy Sepp Müller proposes letting former NVA soldiers volunteer as reservists for homeland defense after tailored training and an oath to the Basic Law, though the Unification Treaty currently bars them.
• Planning figures cited call for roughly 200,000 ready reservists and growth toward about 260,000 active troops, compared with a reported 51,000 reservists today.
• Measures under discussion include a 2026 online questionnaire to the 2008 cohort—mandatory for men, optional for women—and medical assessments for men from 2027, as analysts warn of labor strains and possible GDP losses of up to €17 billion a year.