Writing in Die Welt, Bundeswehr reserve captain and former youth officer David Matei offers a powerful argument against bringing back German conscription. “Quantity, some will think, quantity is good. Aren’t we miles away from that? And when we read reports about inadequate equipment, mustn’t we admit that we have neither quantity nor quality? Conscription changes […]

Germany’s Defense Ministry is trying to clean up a conscription-related legal mess after the Bundestag’s research service concluded that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius likely lacked the authority to suspend the rule requiring young men to get Bundeswehr approval for foreign stays longer than three months. Pistorius had issued the suspension in April after criticism of […]

Catholic military bishop Franz-Josef Overbeck has called for Germany to bring back conscription quickly, arguing that the country’s security situation requires a larger Bundeswehr and cannot be solved through volunteers alone. Overbeck said Germany’s plan to expand the Bundeswehr from just over 186,000 to 260,000 troops by the mid-2030s is unrealistic without compulsory service. He […]