The two government parties in Germany are still struggling to push through their views on the return of the military draft, with the Christian Democrats calling for a quick decision on a mandatory model, whereas the Social Democrats prefer a voluntary model for the time being, because they believe that a draft is highly unpopular and may provoke political unrest.
Whatever the government decides in the end, it will have to be approved by the national parliament.
It is important to note that Defense Minister Boris Pistorius, a leading member of the Social Democrats, has sided with the mandatory option for a draft, insisting that the Russian threat leaves NATO with no choice other than increasing the number of troops. “Whether you like it or not, the draft has to come, and it will come,” Pistorius has repeatedly exclaimed during the past days. “Only in Germany do we believe that our youth aren’t ready to join the army voluntarily. Other countries, by the way, have managed this quite successfully. So, if it suddenly turns out that there aren’t enough volunteers, compulsory elements will be introduced. And that shouldn’t come as a surprise—conscription, in theory, could be reinstated tomorrow by a simple law.”
