Lower thirds:

00:02 Report by Jenni Graham
00:19 Boris Pistorius (SPD) | German Defense Minister | August 27, 2025
00:56 Friedrich Merz (CDU) | German Chancellor | October 5, 2025 | Courtesy: Caren Miosga / ARD
01:02 Jenni Graham | DW Political Correspondent | Berlin
01:41 Patrick Sensburg | German Armed Forces Reservists Association | August 28, 2025

Script:

Is Germany going to bring back compulsory military service? 

The short answer to that is:

Probably not right away. 

There's a big debate happening in the country right now about THIS - the new Military Service Act. 

And, right now, as it stands, not even the government can agree on how to ensure Germany's defense capability going forward. 

+++SOT Boris Pistorius (SPD), German Defense Minister ((18secs))+++
((Date tag: August 27, 2025)) 
The German army must grow. The national security situation demands this, particularly due to Russia's military aggression. Not only do we need a well-equipped military force, we've been working on this for the past two and a half years, we also need a fully-staffed military.
(("Die Bundeswehr muss aufwachsen. Die nationale Sicherheitslage, vor allem das aggressive Aufrüsten Russlands erfordert dies. Wir brauchen nicht nur eine gut ausgerüstete Truppe. Da sind wir im vollen Lauf, dafür sorgen wir seit zweieinhalb Jahren und hören nicht auf. Wir brauchen eben auch eine personell stark aufgestellte Bundeswehr.")) 

That's Boris Pistorius, Germany's defense minister. He's part of the center-left Social Democrats. They're the junior coalition partner in the governing coalition government here in Germany. His party favors a voluntary model. 

Whereas the conservative CDU/CSU - that's Chancellor Friedrich Merz's party - they're of a different view: 

+++SOT Friedrich Merz (CDU), German Chancellor ((6secs))+++ 
((Date tag: October 6, 2025))
((Source: Caren Miosga / ARD))
It will be voluntary for now, but I suspect it won't remain voluntary.
(("Nämlich vorläufig freiwillig aber ich vermute, es wird bei Freiwilligkeit allein nicht bleiben.")) 

What he means is that – the situation demands it – Germans who are willing to fight could expect to be called up... 

What's already been decided is that starting next year, men aged 18 will be asked to fill out a questionnaire to gauge their interest in joining the military.  

There are around 350,000 men who will be sent a survey next year.

It's hoped that around 5,000 of them will join the German military this way. 

What’s being debated right now is if not enough men join voluntarily, at what point will conscription kick in. 

Germany suspended conscription back in 2011 – so this would be a big change for young men growing up today.  

But what about women? 

They can fill out the form if they want to, but would they ever be conscripted...?

+++SOT Patrick Sensburg, German Armed Forces Reservists Association ((22secs))+++ 
((Date tag: August 28, 2025))
So, it is still in the constitution. Just for men. It was suspended by a simple act of a majority by the members of the German parliament, so it can be activated again by a simple majority of the members of the parliament, but just for men. ((CUT)) So, if we want men and women to have the obligation to do a military service, we have to change the constitution and for that we need a bigger majority. 

So, what might make the army a more attractive option?

For one thing, it pays well.

The Bundeswehr is also offering perks for young people, like training modules, credits for further study courses, and even help getting a drivers’ license. 

This is all voluntary - at least for now… but with war not far away in Ukraine and Germany’s increased role in contributing to Europe’s defense, the debate here is unlikely to die down.