Europe Asia News

The new conscription plan will require all 18-year-old men to fill out a survey to determine their eligibility for military service and to undergo medical screening starting in 2027.

The decision comes as Berlin aims to build Europe’s strongest conventional army.

Lawmakers are expected to vote on the plan by the end of 2025.

Earlier this year, during the formation of the coalition, Merz’s conservative CDU/CSU and the center-left Social Democrats (SPD) agreed to reintroduce military service “initially” on a voluntary basis.

Germany’s Defense Forces, the Bundeswehr, currently have around 182,000 soldiers. The new model aims to increase this number by 20,000 next year and to reach between 250,000 and 260,000 over the next decade with the participation of around 200,000 reservists.