On August 26, Chairman of the German National Defense Committee (Budenstag), Thomas Rewekamp, said that it was necessary to make military service mandatory not only for men but also for women.
According to Mr. Rewekamp, maintaining only voluntary military service or re-applying compulsory service only for men will not be enough to serve long-term.
"I believe we can expect from every man and woman, as well as from every person of German and foreign origin, that they will contribute to serving our society for a year," Rewekamp said.
Rewekamp President said that about 700,000 graduates from schools and universities in Germany each year, while emphasizing the importance of the government in clarifying to the people that their contributions are of great significance to " peace, freedom, democracy and prosperity".
However, Mr. Rebekamp also said that at present, it is still not possible to require women or foreigners living in Germany to perform military service because this is unfair.
The president added that amending the basic law to apply the universal military service regime for both men and women will not receive a majority in the German parliament.
Rewekamp's statement came shortly after the German government announced that it would re-apply the mandatory military service regime - which was abolished in 2011 - in 2026 if the number of volunteers was not enough to fill personnel positions for national defense.
Previously, with the number of enlisted men down 7% in 2023, some German politicians said the goal of reaching 260,000 enlisted soldiers by 2035 was unrealistic. To date, the Bundeswehr has about 182,000 active soldiers and 81,000 civilian personnel
Despite observers' acceptance, Prime Minister Friedrich Merz is still committed to building "the strongest regular army in Europe" and increasing defense spending to 3.5% of GDP by 2029.
