Overview
- The Union no longer insists on a random draw for mustering and awaits a concrete selection plan from the Defence Ministry, with fitness- or ability-based options under discussion.
- Defence committee chair Thomas Röwekamp says the remaining issues could be settled ahead of the 13 November coalition committee session.
- The Union seeks a legally binding growth path for active troop strength, arguing a plan is needed if roughly 10,000 additional personnel are required each year.
- Planning assumptions include mustering 240,000 to 260,000 young men to secure 30,000 to 40,000 service entrants, triggering a selection process if volunteers are insufficient.
- The legal status of Wehrdienstleistende remains contested, including Pistorius’s push to designate them as fixed-term soldiers, and the mid-October draft law is expected to change in parliament.