BERLIN, December 5, 2025 – In a pivotal move to bolster Europe's largest economy's defenses against escalating Russian threats, Germany's Bundestag approved a landmark military service reform on Friday, mandating health screenings and questionnaires for young men while preserving voluntary enlistment. The vote, passing 323 to 272 with one abstention, signals Berlin's determination to expand the Bundeswehr from its current 184,000 active personnel to between 255,000 and 270,000 soldiers by 2035, supplemented by up to 200,000 reservists. The legislation, a cornerstone of Chancellor Friedrich Merz's coalition agenda, now heads to the Bundesrat for expected approval later this month, paving the way for implementation on January 1, 2026.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius hailed the reform as "a decisive step" for enhancing Germany's defense capabilities, emphasizing its role in meeting NATO commitments amid the alliance's push for a 2% GDP spending target—now routinely exceeded by Berlin at 2.1% this year. "The service should initially be voluntary, but it's also clear: if that isn't enough, we won't be able to avoid partial conscription. This country, this democracy, deserves it," Pistorius told lawmakers during heated debates that underscored deep societal divides. The minister's words reflect a broader European trend, with neighbors like Denmark extending conscription to women in July 2025 and Latvia reinstating it for men in January 2024, all in response to Moscow's aggression in Ukraine.
Members of the German Peace Society - United War Resisters (DFG-VK) held a protest in front of the Federal Parliament building as lawmakers discussed the draft law on military service in Berlin, Germany on December 5, 2025
At its core, the new Military Service Act introduces a hybrid model blending incentives for volunteers with preparatory obligations. Starting in 2026, all men born on or after January 1, 2008—roughly 400,000 annually—must complete an online questionnaire detailing their education, health, fitness, and interest in serving. From July 2027, they will undergo mandatory medical examinations at one of 24 regional centers to assess suitability for duty. Women and non-binary individuals can participate voluntarily, aligning with gender-inclusive policies in other NATO states. Actual service remains optional, with terms of six to eleven months offering a starting salary of €2,600 monthly—up €450 from current levels—plus perks like free driver's licenses, which can cost thousands in Germany.
This framework addresses the Bundeswehr's chronic understaffing, exacerbated since the suspension of compulsory service in 2011 under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel, which shifted to an all-volunteer force but yielded only 15,000 recruits in 2025—5,000 more than 2024 but far short of the 20,000 needed annually. The law legally binds the military to semi-annual progress reports to the Bundestag, ensuring accountability as it aims to add 80,000 troops over the decade. In a crisis, the database of screened individuals could enable rapid mobilization, a provision Pistorius described as essential for deterrence: "The more capable our armed forces are... the less likely we are to become a party to a conflict."
The reform emerges from months of coalition wrangling between Merz's conservative CDU/CSU bloc and the center-left SPD. Conservatives, led by parliamentary group chair Jens Spahn, pushed for binding growth targets and a potential "draft lottery" for partial conscription if volunteers falter—a proposal SPD leader Matthias Miersch deemed a "two-phase" safeguard but ultimately softened to avoid immediate mandates. "Modern military service is coming," Spahn declared, framing it as a "service for the fatherland" to win over youth. Pistorius, drawing from Sweden's voluntary model, insists incentives will suffice, projecting 60,000 to 100,000 additional personnel to fulfill NATO's forward defense needs.
Yet the vote exposed fractures. Opposition from the Greens, Left Party (Die Linke), and Free Democrats decried it as a "slippery slope" to full conscription, with Die Linke's Desiree Becker mocking a "Merz regiment" for the elite. Outside the Reichstag, hundreds of students protested under banners reading "Your duty, our death," part of a nationwide youth movement skipping classes to oppose what they call a militarization of society. Critics, including pacifist groups, argue it revives Cold War-era traumas in a nation scarred by World War II, potentially alienating Generation Z amid economic woes like 7.2% youth unemployment.
Geopolitically, the timing is acute. Russia's Zapad-2025 exercises near NATO borders, coupled with hybrid threats like cyberattacks and migrant weaponization at Poland's frontier, have heightened alarms. Pistorius, who has visited Ukraine multiple times since 2022, positions the Bundeswehr as Europe's "strongest conventional force" by 2035, capable of leading continental defense in a major land war—a shift from post-1945 pacifism. NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg praised the move, noting Germany's €100 billion special defense fund has already delivered Leopard tanks to Kyiv. Allies like the U.S. and UK, facing their own recruitment shortfalls, eye Berlin's model warily, with French President Emmanuel Macron proposing a joint European "defense university" to harmonize training.
Supporters, including Bundeswehr chief Carsten Breuer, call the expansion "realistic" if paired with modernization: new F-35 jets, Eurofighter upgrades, and cyber units. Recruits like 21-year-old Jason, who enlisted citing the "security situation," embody the voluntary appeal, but skeptics warn of equity issues—rural and lower-income youth disproportionately affected. As implementation looms, Pistorius reiterated: "There is no reason for concern, no reason for fear." Yet with protests swelling and recruitment dashboards mandatory, Germany's pivot tests its democratic resilience, balancing deterrence with domestic freedoms in an era where Europe's peace feels perilously fragile.
