"The German parliament has rubberstamped a new model for military service that aims to boost its armed forces, as thousands of school pupils demonstrated across the country against the plans. The change will include the obligatory screening of all 18-year-old men to gauge their suitability to serve in the military from 1 January, but does not include conscription, as favoured by some conservative politicians."
"If the new model fails to pull in enough recruits, parliament will be compelled to discuss the reintroduction of conscription, the defence minister, Boris Pistorius, told the Bundestag."
"I'm striking against conscription and in opposition to the rearmament that's taking place, not least as I don't think the government is doing enough to secure peace through diplomatic means, said Alicia, a 17-year-old taking part in a demonstration in Kreuzberg, Berlin."
"We are neither deciding today that you will be obliged to serve in the armed forces, nor that we will be drawing lots to send you to Ukraine as cannon fodder, she said. That is pure populism, or simply nonsense."
Parliament approved a new military service model to increase armed forces numbers while explicitly not reintroducing conscription. The policy mandates obligatory screening of all 18-year-old men from 1 January to assess suitability for military service. Defence minister Boris Pistorius said parliament would have to revisit the conscription question if volunteer recruitment proves insufficient. Thousands of pupils across roughly 90 towns and cities staged school-strike style protests, risking impacts on end-of-year grades despite education authority warnings. Protesters voiced opposition to rearmament and urged diplomatic solutions. SPD junior partner Siemtje Moller described populist claims about forced service as nonsense.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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