In Germany, the conscription of women into the army is not ruled out because of the Russian threat

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz does not rule out the possibility of conscripting women into the Bundeswehr in the future. He attributed the expansion of voluntary military service to the growing threat from Russia, reports zdfheute.

According to Mertz, if the new model of voluntary military service proves to be insufficient, then a mechanism will have to be developed to return to compulsory military service, where the conscription of women can also be introduced. At the same time, the current Constitution of the Federal Republic of Germany does not provide for the mandatory conscription of women, so it will be necessary to make changes for this.

“We have to do it”, emphasized the chancellor, noting that although there are still obstacles ahead, the beginning of the process has already been laid.

At the same time, the federal government approved a draft law that provides for an increase in the number of Bundeswehr by tens of thousands of soldiers. The model proposed by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius is based primarily on voluntary service, and there are currently no plans to bring back conscription.

However, such a step is possible in the future if it is not possible to achieve the growth targets. Currently, the Bundeswehr has more than 182,000 soldiers, while the goal is at least 260,000. The CDU/CSU parties doubt that this can be achieved only thanks to a voluntary system.

Mertz also stated that Vladimir Putin poses a threat not only to Ukraine, but also has territorial claims:

“He wants to restore the old Soviet Union. And that includes part of my country”.

Mertz emphasized the Kremlin’s attempts to undermine German democracy and the need to counter it:

“For many years we will be dealing with an aggressive Russian authoritarian regime that has no interest in returning to a rules-based order”.