Left-wing politician Jan van Aken has drawn attention by suggesting that young men could use marijuana to avoid Germany’s planned new military service assessments. His party, The Left, is preparing guidance opposing the government’s proposal to evaluate all young men born in 2008 or later for a new voluntary service programme, which could become compulsory if recruitment falls short.
The German military’s inspector general, Carsten Breuer, has called for assessing all young men for potential service to ensure readiness in a defence emergency. Supported by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius, the plan aligns with a new military service law taking effect on January 01, 2026.
The German Ministry of Defence said in order to “compete for the best minds, the use of TikTok is indispensable”. Special measures are being introduced for the use of TikTok. These include the technical separation between the Bundeswehr‘s networks and the TikTok platform. Dedicated end devices should be used without access to the Bundeswehr‘s IT structure. TikTok software is still neither authorized nor technically possible on official IT.
