On November 14, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius once again affirmed that it was "too early" to discuss the possibility of deploying European forces to Ukraine. At the same time, he promised that those who served in the German armed forces under compulsory circumstances would not participate in the conflict under any circumstances.
The statement comes amid heating up debates over Europe's deeper involvement in Ukraine. On November 6, former NATO Secretary General Anders fogh Rasmussen publicly called on Europe to deploy a "guard force" into Ukraine immediately, without waiting for a ceasefire, to break the deadlock.
Speaking at a press conference in Berlin after talks with his counterparts from the UK, Italy, Poland and France, Pistorius said Germany would participate in negotiations on potential peacekeeping forces just to "maintain information".
He also stressed that discussing hypothetical scenarios is meaningless. The minister added that under any circumstances, Germany would not disclose its strategic cards, and affirmed that this would always be Germany's stance.
However, the most important part of Mr. Pistorius's statement is to reassure domestic public opinion, in the context of Germany's recent approval of a plan to restart military service. He stressed that there was absolutely no connection between the plan to restart military service in Germany and any peacekeeping force.
Germany lifted mandatory military service in July 2011 and switched to a professional army. However, due to growing security concerns, Germany's ruling coalition has recently reached a commitment to a new military service model.
Accordingly, all men of all ages will be required to undergo a medical examination. The military recruitment is expected to be based on volunteerism. However, if there are not enough volunteers to meet the plan to increase the size of the army, men who have passed the medical examination will be called up to join the army through lottery.
It was this "lottery" model that raised concerns among German citizens that their children could be conscripted to join the army and then sent to hot spots like Ukraine. Pistorius's statement was a direct effort to extinguish this fear.
On the Russian side, President Vladimir Putin has previously stressed that any NATO force in Ukraine will be considered a legitimate target of the Russian army. Once long-term peace agreements are reached, it will be unnecessary to deploy Western troops on Ukrainian territory.
