Hours After Collapse, German Cabinet Approves Draft Law On Military Service

Hours after the German government collapsed, forcing Chancellor Olaf Scholz to call for a confidence vote that he said would take place on January 15 (which if he were to lose, which is virtually certain, will force a snap election by March), Reuters reports that Germany’s cabinet on Wednesday approved a draft law that would allow the army to gauge the readiness of the country’s 18-year-olds to serve in the Bundeswehr as it looks to boost troop numbers for NATO obligations without resorting to conscription.

Reuters reports that the war in Ukraine prompted a debate in Germany over whether to reintroduce conscription, which was ended in 2011, to boost shrinking troop numbers in response to a more aggressive Russia

It currently has 180,000 soldiers, which it wants to increase to 203,000 by 2031, as well as 60,000 reservists.

The aim is to eventually reach 200,000 more reservists, which would enable Germany to swiftly expand its troops to around 460,000 in the event of war.

With the end of conscription, Germany stopped the registration of 18-year-olds for military service, leaving the country without a reliable data base on whom it could call up.

The aim of the new law is to once again have an overview of those figures:

Under the model proposed, all men turning 18 – about roughly 300,000 next year – will have to fill out a digital survey on their interest in joining the army.

Young women will also be sent the survey but are not obliged to respond.

Rather strangely, this decision echoes that of the incumbent UK PM just weeks before their own election that resulted in a landslide victory for the opposition.

As a reminder, UK Prime Minister Rishi Sunak pledged to bring back mandatory national service if the governing Conservative Party won the July 4 national election, prompting a nationwide debate on a policy Britain abandoned more than 60 years ago.

Not exactly a winning strategy to gain votes from the ‘draftable’-age cohort?

And now zee Germans are doing the same?