Overview

• The CDU/CSU pulled the first reading from this week’s agenda, with both sides indicating debate will likely move to the following sitting week.
• Defense Minister Boris Pistorius labeled the delay negligent, warning it could slow the rollout of the new service model and the reintroduction of registration.
• The draft law restores a questionnaire-based registration for 18-year-old men, offers an initially voluntary short service, and keeps a legal option for compulsory call-ups without an automatic numeric trigger.
• Union leaders demand quantified intake targets and clear conditions for activating mandatory service; Markus Söder blasted the plan as a “Wischiwaschi-Wehrpflicht” and urged a swift return to conscription.
• Supporters cite NATO readiness needs of roughly 260,000 active troops and 200,000 reservists, while the Union points to recent airspace incidents—an argument Pistorius dismissed as irrelevant to the bill’s timing.