A German politician, Falko Droßmann, the chairman of the SPD in the Defense Committee, has rejected the proposal of CSU defense politician Florian Hahn to reintroduce the draft as a populist idea. “This is a purely populist proposal, but it is indeed suitable for sparking a debate” Droßmann said to the TV station “Welt” on Tuesday.
He also criticized the current state of the German military, saying that the barracks in Bavaria, where the CSU is in power, do not function and that the party has effectively abolished the system. “We no longer know who to write to to enlist, as we have no more draft registration, no more mustering, no more district military service offices” Droßmann said. “Our barracks are largely already in disrepair. We have no equipment, no uniforms and no instructors.”
Droßmann believes that a classical draft no longer makes sense today and that the German military needs to be made more attractive. “We need something new, but before that, we must make the Bundeswehr more attractive. We must make it more attractive to defend our country.” He also left open the possibility of a mandatory draft in the future, but only if it is feasible.
Furthermore, Droßmann thinks that the Bundeswehr should be rethought, as defense is not just about people marching through the woods with guns. The military needs specialists, but also a civilian resilience. The health care system and rescue services need to be prepared and the service should be expanded beyond the military, he said. This would also involve motivating people to serve voluntarily and paying them better.
Droßmann praised the idea of Defense Minister Boris Pistorius to introduce a mandatory mustering without subsequent military service. “The concept that Boris Pistorius proposed is a way to ensure the growth of our military forces. This means that if we have a changing world situation, a changing security situation, we would be able to grow our military forces. We cannot do that now.”
However, Droßmann does not think that the Swedish model, which is often cited as an example, can be directly applied to Germany, as the economic and social conditions in the two countries are too different.