Defense Minister Lambrecht: “A conscription debate is of little help to us”

The Ukraine war has sparked debate about the return of conscription. But the Defense Minister is against it – even if the number of applicants in the Bundeswehr has been declining since the beginning of the year.

Will a return to suspended conscription make Germany safer? This has been a frequently asked question since the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine. “A debate on conscription isn’t going to help us much in the current situation,” said Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht.

“It takes time to train soldiers – less than a year makes little sense,” said the SPD politician to the newspapers of the Funke media group. In addition, there are neither enough barracks and trainers nor the equipment for tens of thousands of conscripts.

Declining number of applicants

Since 2011, the Bundeswehr has practically been a volunteer army. At that time, conscription was suspended. In order to reactivate them, a Bundestag resolution would be necessary. However, this is currently considered unlikely.

At the same time, the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine does not seem to have resulted in more Germans volunteering for the troops – on the contrary: the number of applicants for military service in the Bundeswehr has been falling since the beginning of 2022, said a spokeswoman for the Federal Office for Personnel Management of the Bundeswehr in Cologne the editorial network Germany (RND).

More conscientious objectors

A lack of personnel is and will remain a problem for the armed forces: they currently have around 183,000 soldiers. The goal is actually 203,000.

In addition, according to the RND, the number of conscientious objectors within the Bundeswehr has risen significantly: According to a spokesman for the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks, 657 applications for conscientious objection have been received so far this year. In the whole of last year, there were only 209. The application for conscientious objection can also be made during active military service as a soldier.

According to the information, many applicants justify their refusal with the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine.