BERLIN (dpa-AFX) – Leading SPD politicians have rejected the reintroduction of compulsory military service as a consequence of the war in Ukraine. “Compulsory service – we’ve discussed it long enough, that’s the end of it,” said SPD leader Saskia Esken on Wednesday in RTL/ntv’s “Frühstart”. A reintroduction would help neither in improving the condition of the Bundeswehr nor in the current conflict with Russia.
SPD faction deputy Sönke Rix sees it similarly. “With the introduction of general compulsory service, as is currently being discussed again, we would be on the wrong track in several respects,” said Rix on Wednesday in Berlin. The emergencies in the Bundeswehr could not be eliminated in this way. In addition, conscription cannot be reactivated from one day to the next. The civil and military structures have been on hold for more than ten years. In addition, legal questions would have to be clarified, for example to what extent women would then also be covered by compulsory military service, according to Rix.
Compulsory military service was suspended in 2011 after 55 years under the then Minister of Defense Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg (CSU), which in practice amounted to the abolition of military and civilian service.
The Russian attack on Ukraine has sparked a new debate about introducing compulsory military service in Germany. Politicians from the Union and SPD called for a discussion about such a step, which combines military service and social services. The security expert of the SPD parliamentary group, Wolfgang Hellmich, had told the “Rheinische Post” that the debate had to be held urgently./shy/DP/eas