Top German conservative says armed forces need to prepare for draft

A leading politician in Chancellor Friedrich Merz's conservative party wants the German armed forces to start getting ready for a return to compulsory military service.

Jens Spahn, the leader of parliamentary group of Merz's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) and its Bavarian sister party, the Christian Social Union, said the military, or Bundeswehr, must start making plans for a draft.

"The Bundeswehr must definitely establish a structure that allows for a swift return to conscription. This cannot happen overnight, but we need to start preparing," Spahn told the Rheinische Post newspaper.

He said Germany must regain its ability to defend itself, which would require up to 60,000 additional soldiers for the Bundeswehr.

"If this can be achieved through voluntary service, good. However, my impression is that we will need conscription for this," said the CDU politician. Conscription was suspended in 2011 under then defence minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU) after 55 years.

Bundestag's Defence Commissioner Henning Otte also insisted on mandatory military service if there are not enough volunteers. "If that is not sufficient, it must be expanded to include mandatory elements," the CDU politician told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper.

"It is the government's responsibility to draft this law with its mandatory components in a way that is constitutionally sound and can be passed this year," he said.

If Germany returns to a draft, one question likely to be discussed is whether it would also apply to women. The previous draft was for men only.

Spahn sees legal barriers to expanding the draft.

"If the old conscription is reinstated, it will only apply to men," Spahn said, adding that is what is provided for in the German Constitution.

To change that the document "would need to be amended. I do not see this happening in the next four years," he told the Rheinische Post.

A constitutional amendment requires a two-thirds majority in both the Bundestag and Bundesrat, the upper house of parliament composed of leaders of German states.

Former defence minister Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer of the CDU wants a draft for women too.

"If we look at the declining birth rates, the question will ultimately arise as to whether we can afford to exclude any group. This means women would also have to be included in conscription," she told the Berliner Zeitung newspaper.

Kramp-Karrenbauer also advocated for preparing for a possible reintroduction now.

The coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the Social Democrats does not mention the word "conscription." Instead, it states: "We are creating a new, attractive military service initially based on voluntariness."

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has made it recently repeatedly clear that service can be voluntary - only if it meets the recruitment demands.

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner stressed the coalition's "initally" wording, saying, "this does not rule out the possibility of reintroducing conscription in the future, depending on demand and with the necessary infrastructure.

But she told the RND media group that she's a fan of general compulsory service.

Chancellor Merz has not ruled out additional steps but has often spoken of instituting a required so-called "social year" which could be spent in the military or working in areas valuable to the society at large.