Basic law change required
FDP: In the event of a defense, chaos breaks out in Germany
April 16, 2024, 7:57 p.m
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In view of the war in Ukraine, conscription in Germany must be reformed. The Ministry of Defense would first like to ensure that conscripts are registered. However, the FDP is calling for a change to the Basic Law for compulsory military service and predicts chaos in the event of defense.
According to the Liberals, compulsory military service, which continues to exist in the event of tension, could not be implemented in practice. “In the event of a defense, chaos would break out for us because the old district military replacement offices no longer have any data on conscripts,” said Alexander Müller, the defense policy spokesman for the FDP parliamentary group, to the “Tagesspiegel”. The Free Democrats also see a major legal problem when it comes to gender equality. “We urgently need to change Article 12a of the Basic Law,” continued Müller, “otherwise men could sue or have themselves declared diverse on the basis of the new Self-Determination Act in order to avoid military service.”
State Secretary in the Defense Ministry Nils Hilmer told the newspaper that his house has already initiated countermeasures with the Bundeswehr administration. “As part of the reorganization of the Bundeswehr, we have already made important decisions in this regard,” and the administrative structures must also be “consistently geared towards national and alliance defense.”
In the “current security policy situation,” Hilmer continued, the conscription that still exists in the event of tension and defense means “that we have to ensure that those liable for military service are registered.” This was “unfortunately largely reduced when conscription was suspended”.
With the current system, it is hardly possible to cover the increasing personnel requirements in the Bundeswehr in the long term, explains the State Secretary. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius will make a proposal before the summer break on how the Bundeswehr can get more military service members. To this end, Hilmer and Inspector General Carsten Breuer want to present “various options” to their boss Pistorius.
FDP calls for the mustering of hundreds of thousands of reservists
As a measure to strengthen the armed forces, FDP parliamentary group leader Dürr is also bringing up the mustering of around 900,000 Bundeswehr reservists. Such a survey could provide clarity about “which women and men we could rely on,” said Dürr in Berlin. However, the FDP politician rejected considerations of reintroducing general conscription.
The reservists are people “who are thankfully willing to be part of the armed forces as a reserve,” said Dürr. They had made a voluntary decision to do so. In view of the need to strengthen the Bundeswehr, the reserve deserves more attention from politicians “just because of the sheer number of people,” he continued.
The FDP is also open to measures to make the reserve more attractive – for example through a better balance between working life and the reserve. Employers must recognize that it also has “added value” for them to “have employees in reserve,” said Dürr. Many reservists acquired important skills in the Bundeswehr.
Bundeswehr reservists are former soldiers. According to the Federal Ministry of Defense, the reserve contributes to national and alliance defense, homeland security and to support allied or friendly forces in Germany. Reservists would be deployed depending on their training and time availability.