BERLIN — Germany’s plan to bring back a form of conscription was derailed late Tuesday after last-minute objections from Defense Minister Boris Pistorius upended an agreement among the country’s governing parties, multiple people familiar with the matter told POLITICO.
Lawmakers from the Christian Democrats and the Social Democrats had spent the past week finalizing a compromise to revive military service under the Defense Service Modernization Act — a flagship project of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government to rebuild the Bundeswehr’s depleted ranks.
But several parliamentary officials said the deal was halted after Pistorius expressed concerns over key aspects of the draft during a meeting of the parliamentary group of the Social Democrats on Tuesday evening.
The surprise development marks a sudden reversal for the coalition, which had planned to introduce the bill for debate in the Bundestag this week. It now remains unclear when — or if — the government will move ahead with a revised version.
The draft law was designed to strengthen recruitment without returning to the full draft that Germany suspended in 2011. Under the proposal agreed last week, every 18-year-old man would receive a mandatory questionnaire assessing health and willingness to serve.
If voluntary enlistment targets were not met, a lottery could be triggered to decide who must report for medical screening. Only if the armed forces still fell short would a second lottery determine who is actually called up for six months of service.
The concept — first reported by RND — was meant to bridge a long-running rift between the two coalition partners: the Social Democrats, who favor a purely voluntary model, and the Christian Democrats, who insist on a legal pathway toward compulsory service if enlistment targets aren’t met.
The plan had already faced resistance in parliament. Niklas Wagener, defense spokesperson for the opposition Greens, called it “a half-baked compromise” that blurred the line between voluntarism and obligation.
“The government can’t decide whether it wants voluntary service or duty,” he told POLITICO, adding that the lottery “amounts to bringing back conscription through the back door.”
For now, the bill is in limbo. Coalition aides said talks will likely continue, but no timeline has been set.
The defense ministry had aimed to start implementation by January, adding roughly 5,000 troops a year to reach a long-term goal of 260,000 personnel by 2030.
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