Status: 01/31/2023 7:47 p.m
Defense Minister Pistorius described the abolition of conscription as a mistake. But he has no plans to reintroduce it. FDP leader Lindner rejected any attempt to do so.
FDP leader Christian Lindner has spoken out against a discussion about a return to conscription: “For the FDP, conscription is not at all up for debate. It’s a ghost discussion.” All power must be concentrated on “strengthening the Bundeswehr as a highly professional army,” said the Federal Minister of Finance.
In view of the shortage of skilled workers, preventing an entire year from training would also cause “great damage” in all economic areas. The young generation had also “lost so much through the pandemic that there should be no speculation about a new compulsory service,” Lindner continued.
Strack-Zimmermann was less strict about it
Lindner’s party colleague Marie-Agnes Strack-Zimmermann, who chairs the Defense Committee in the Bundestag, had previously made less clear statements. In the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” she also pointed out the serious consequences for the economy and society if conscription were to be reintroduced; the shortage of skilled workers also plays a role.
However, she restricted: “In principle, the end of compulsory service only applies in times of peace. In the event of tension or defense, it can be activated again,” she emphasized. And: “A simple yes or no is not enough.”
The reservists’ association clearly advocated a reintroduction: Germany could not be defended without conscription, association president Patrick Sensburg told the TV station Welt. Around 200,000 soldiers and 100,000 reservists were not enough for an emergency.
Conscription and modern Bundeswehr – is that possible?
The deputy head of the FDP, Johannes Vogel, wrote on Twitter that a reintroduction would conflict with the modernization of the Bundeswehr.
Military experts have repeatedly pointed out that today’s weapon systems are more complex than they used to be and therefore require specialists. Conscription could hardly afford this.
The left also criticized the discussions. “Not a day goes by when there isn’t some representative of the SPD, FDP, Greens or Union who comes around the corner with a new escalation proposal: tank deliveries, fighter jets, now the reintroduction of conscription,” said the first parliamentary manager of the parliamentary group , Jan Korte. Suspending conscription was not a mistake, but a civilizational advance.
Defense Minister Pistorius called the suspension “a mistake”.
Image: dpa
Statement by Pistorius sparked debate
The discussion was triggered by the new Defense Minister Boris Pistorius last week. In an interview with the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” he said: “If you ask me as a civilian, as a citizen, as a politician, I would say: It was a mistake to suspend conscription.”
However, he doesn’t mean this because of the war in Ukraine, but in principle: “Our parliamentary army belongs in the middle of society. In the past, conscripts sat at every second kitchen table. That’s another reason why there was always a connection to civil society.” Pistorius also made it clear that he is currently not planning to reintroduce compulsory military service.