armed forces
Högl calls for a citizens’ assembly on conscription debate
Compulsory military service could be embedded in a social year based on the Swedish model, according to the military commissioner Eva Högl (SPD). photo
© Michael Kappeler/dpa
Conscription was suspended in 2011. Due to the changed security situation, the Defense Minister is having models of compulsory service examined. Military Commissioner Högl calls for a citizens’ council.
The Bundestag’s military commissioner, Eva Högl, is calling for a citizens’ assembly to introduce a general military service Bundeswehr and civil organizations to discuss. “The topic belongs in the Bundestag and at the center of our society. A citizens’ assembly combines the two excellently,” writes the SPD politician in a guest article for the news portal Table Media.
Compulsory military service was suspended in July 2011 after 55 years by the then Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU). In practice, this amounted to an abolition of military and community service. Because of the changed security situation after the Russian attack on Ukraine, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) is examining models of compulsory military service and also taking the Swedish model of compulsory military service into account. There is no pure compulsory military service, but rather a general civil or military service obligation for all young men and women. Everyone is mustered and then selected based on suitability and motivation for military service.
“I am convinced that everyone should get involved in our society for a while,” wrote Högl. Compulsory military service could be embedded in a social year based on the Swedish model. “If all young people received mail from the Bundeswehr once, then everyone would actively engage with the Bundeswehr. Then the Bundeswehr would be omnipresent, which would firmly anchor it in the middle of our society.” Högl complained that a “serious and open discussion of concrete ideas and concepts” is currently hardly getting underway. A citizens’ assembly could deal with the topic objectively and in detail.
The first Citizens’ Assembly of the Bundestag completed its work in January. He worked on the topic of nutrition for several months and presented his recommendations in January.