German opposition wants conscription back

The party that abolished the draft in 2011 is now advocating for its return, citing the Ukraine conflict

Germany needs to reintroduce the draft and buy more drones and military equipment right away, Markus Soeder, leader of the Christian Social Union (CSU) party and head of the state of Bavaria, has said.

Soeder spoke to the outlet Bild on the eve of his party conference in Augusburg, where the CSU and its national sister party, the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), will plot to unseat the current “traffic light” coalition government of Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

“What is needed is money for the Bundeswehr, clear [funding] structures, drones (...) and of course conscription. As quickly as possible,” Soeder told the outlet. “Otherwise, the ability [of Germany] to defend itself cannot be guaranteed in the long term.”

Berlin abolished conscription in 2011, when Soeder’s party colleague Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg was defense minister. When asked about this, the CSU leader said “times have changed.”

Earlier in the interview, Soeder slammed BSW leader Sahra Wagenknecht’s criticism of Berlin’s support for Kiev in the conflict with Moscow, arguing that Russia might threaten Germany if Ukraine is defeated.

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“It’s not about international missions now, but about national and alliance defense. That requires a different Bundeswehr across the board,” Soeder said.

Current Defense Minister Boris Pistorius “has the right ideas,” Soeder said, but they don’t work in practice because he doesn’t really have the support of his own government, as well as due to mismanagement.

“Please explain to me how weapons are being bought and armies supplied all over the world, only in Germany it takes decades to get a drone. That can’t be true,” he told Bild.

Soeder also accused the ruling coalition of “trickery with the budget” that in the end left the military underfunded, while describing Scholz’s plans for reintroducing conscription as “nothing more than a statistical survey.”

Earlier this year, the Defense Ministry in Berlin had worked out three plans for re-staffing the Bundeswehr. The first option involved enticing Germans to enlist voluntarily. The second would have citizens who turn 18 fill out a questionnaire – which would be optional for women – that would help the military select up to 40,000 candidates for service. This would require changing the law, however.

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The third option was to reinstate conscription for men and apply it to women as well. While the Defense Ministry called this the “most promising” scenario, it would require amending the German constitution.

According to Soeder, however, the easiest way would be to bring back the old draft, which does not require a constitutional amendment. Conscription, he argued, was a good way to instill the values of “freedom, democracy and justice” in the German youth.

“If we make conscription compulsory, then please don’t do it like in the last few years of the draft, where anyone who had a problem with their toenail was immediately (...) declared unfit for service,” the Bavarian leader told Bild.