The German government on Wednesday tried to smooth over a row within its ranks over conscription that threatens to overshadow its push to bolster military deterrence against Russia.
European powers have been on alert since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022 and a spate of drone incursions in recent months — as well as US promises to move away from defending the continent — has pushed the issue to the top of the agenda.
One of the key projects of conservative Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government is to bring in a new system of military service to build up “the strongest conventional army in Europe”.
Some government MPs have suggested a lottery system to decide who gets drafted, but on Wednesday Defence Minister Boris Pistorius rejected that idea as a “lazy compromise” that would be too time-consuming to implement.
The comments from Pistorius, who is from the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) and regularly polls as one of the most popular politicians, provoked an angry reaction from some in Merz’s centre-right CDU/CSU alliance.
“In 30 years in parliament, I have never seen a minister torpedo an important bill and plunge his own MPs into chaos like this,” senior CDU lawmaker Norbert Roettgen told the Sueddeutsche Zeitung.
Nevertheless Merz’s spokesman Stefan Kornelius appealed on Wednesday for all sides to “take the drama out” of the debate.
The dispute “does not mean that Germany is not united or weakened, Germany is able to act”, Kornelius told reporters.
Asked by AFP whether the discord would give heart to Russia, Kornelius said it was the kind of healthy debate that Moscow should encourage in its own political system.
“One would like to see more democracy and debate in Russia, also on the subject of conscription,” he added.
Kornelius insisted military service reform would be passed and implemented by January 1 as planned.
“Since 2022 we have had to take into account a much higher threat to Germany,” he said, alluding to the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.
– ‘Gunslinger rhetoric’ –
NATO targets call for Germany to build up its total military strength to 460,000 troops — made up of 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists.
But the Bundeswehr is currently a far cry from those figures, with around only 182,000 active soldiers and 49,000 reservists.
Pistorius hopes to avoid the need for the draft by attracting more volunteers with better pay and benefits like free driving licences and technical training opportunities.
Merz and Pistorius regularly accuse Moscow of acts of hybrid warfare aimed at destabilising Germany.
Merz has made national security a priority, announcing unprecedented investments in an army that has been underfunded and under-equipped for decades.
He has also reaffirmed support for Ukraine, for whom Germany has been the second-largest supplier of aid after the US.
But the row over conscription illustrates broader tensions within the government over how firmly to respond to Russia.
Also this week, Pistorius hit back at CSU leader Markus Soeder’s call for an aggressive response to suspected Russian drones that have been spotted over various sensitive sites in Germany.
After mystery drones shut down Munich airport this month, Soeder, who is also the state premier of Bavaria, advocated a drone response policy of “shooting down rather than waiting”.
Pistorius dismissed such talk as “gunslinger rhetoric” in comments to the Pioneer website.
“That sort of talk might work at high noon in Dodge City, but not in international politics where we need to prevent wars and avoid escalation.”
