Overview
- On Wednesday Defence Minister Boris Pistorius said he does not see a need to bring back mandatory military service right now and urged reliance on voluntary recruitment.
- Senior CDU and CSU figures including Norbert Röttgen and Markus Söder, together with parts of the AfD and spokesperson Jan Nolte, argue Germany must keep reinstating conscription on the table to quickly build reserves.
- A law that took effect in January 2026 already requires mandatory registration and medical musterung for young men while keeping actual service voluntary.
- The Bundeswehr has grown to about 190,000 active troops but still aims for up to 260,000 active personnel and roughly 200,000 reservists, a shortfall critics say undermines homeland defence against drones, cyberattacks and sabotage.
- The debate will shape near‑term policy choices: the government can intensify professional recruitment and buy more defence technology, or move toward compulsory service rules that would face legal and social pushback and change the lives of young people who must undergo musterung.