German Union’s Fractious Vice, Norbert Röttgen, Calls for Mandatory Service in New Military Service Law
German Union’s Fractious Vice, Norbert Röttgen, has emphasized the need for a mandatory service component in the new military service law, citing the importance of being prepared for the possibility that the voluntary recruitment approach may not be successful. In an interview with the Welt, Röttgen stated that the instruments to be used in the event of a failure in voluntary recruitment must be created now, rather than waiting to see if the approach works.
Röttgen’s comments come as part of the coalition agreement between the CDU and the SPD, which aims to increase the Bundeswehr’s personnel through voluntary means initially. However, the union’s fractious vice believes that both sides of the agreement must be respected from the outset and that the new military service law should already outline the mandatory service option in the event that the voluntary approach does not yield the desired results.
Furthermore, Röttgen has called for a faster pace in the modernization of the Bundeswehr, stating that the current tempo will not be sufficient to meet the NATO’s military requirements. He advocates for the creation of an ambitious and self-binding action plan, which would clearly outline goals, instruments and a timeline. Röttgen believes that this is a responsibility that the coalition must take upon itself, in order to derive the necessary changes in procedures, structures and personnel recruitment from the resulting time commitments.
According to Röttgen, a fundamental change in the way of working, procedures and speed is necessary and he describes it as a “revolution” that the CDU’s faction, including himself, will advocate for as legal representatives of these fundamental changes.