Bundestag approves law for new military service
From 1 January 2026, young men will be required by law to complete a questionnaire and undergo a medical exam. Military service itself will remain voluntary.
Berlin (dpa) - The Bundestag, Germany’s parliament, has given the green light for the country’s new military service. From next year, all young men and women born in 2008 or later will be sent a questionnaire that will ask them among other things about their willingness to sign up for military service. It will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women to complete the questionnaire. A medical exam will then also become compulsory again for all men born from 1 January 2008. This will only come into practical effect at a later date, however.
According to the plans, the Bundestag will decide on what is being called “needs-based conscription” if the targets for enlarging the Bundeswehr - the German armed forces - fail to be met.
As of the end of October 2025, the Bundeswehr had 184,242 active soldiers, including 12,062 voluntary conscripts. The numbers have thus risen for the first time again this year. According to NATO’s new targets, however, Germany would need 460,000 soldiers if war were to break out, including 260,000 men and women in the active force.
Compulsory military service was suspended in Germany in 2011 after 55 years.
Young people in several German cities took to the streets to protest against the military service plans. “We don’t want to end up as canon fodder,” read one campaign slogan on Instagram.
