BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – The dispute between the Union and the SPD over the new military service is escalating. The coalition partners canceled a press conference on the military service law at short notice in the late afternoon due to excessive discrepancies. The event scheduled for the late afternoon will be postponed, said an SPD parliamentary group spokesman. According to both sides, it is now completely open whether the law will be introduced into the Bundestag on Thursday as planned.
The move was preceded by heated discussions in the SPD parliamentary group. Participants said that there was no agreement on the key points that negotiators from both sides had previously agreed on. The four specialist politicians had negotiated additions to the law presented by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius. This included a controversial lottery process. Representatives from both sides had spoken of a fundamental agreement on key points.
A spokesman for the Union parliamentary group now said: “We canceled the press conference because the intended agreement was not reached. We had fully expected this. We do not know when the first reading of the bill will take place and will inform you as soon as possible.”/jr/DP/he