Overview

• The government’s new Wehrdienstgesetz will be reviewed by the cabinet in late August and foresees six-month volunteer service beginning in spring 2026.
• It includes a mandatory Musterung exercise from 2027 and provisions to conscript up to 15,000 individuals if volunteer targets are not met.
• Bundespräsident Frank-Walter Steinmeier has called for an immediate public debate on reinstating conscription, citing a real war in Europe due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
• Military historian Sönke Neitzel argues that voluntary recruitment cannot close the Bundeswehr’s gap from under 200,000 to NATO’s 260,000-troop requirement and urges swift reintroduction of Wehrpflicht.
• Closed barracks and reduced training personnel since the 2011 suspension of conscription, along with party splits over timing and constitutional amendments, may delay any draft rollout.