New military service is coming
A medical exam will be compulsory for young men and voluntary for young women. Size of the Bundeswehr is to be increased.
Berlin (dpa) – Green light for Germany’s new military service from 1 January. The German Bundesrat (upper house) has now also approved the law to modernise the country’s military service, the Bundestag (lower house) having already done so. It makes a medical exam compulsory for young men and reintroduces registration for military service. The principle of voluntary service will still apply, however. The objective of the law is to increase the size of Germany’s armed forces, the Bundeswehr, from around 184,000 soldiers now to 255,000 or 270,000 by 2035.
From mid-January, the Bundeswehr will start sending out questionnaires about the new military service to young people. Those born from 2008 onwards will be asked by the questionnaire to provide personal information about their gender, health, fitness, educational qualifications, driving licence and willingness to serve. It will be mandatory for young men and voluntary for women to answer these questions. The aim is to obtain extensive data and a comprehensive picture of the young generation’s willingness to serve and to reinstate a system of registration and monitoring of military service.
