The German cabinet approved a bill for setting up a National Security Council and introducing voluntary military service, which could turn into conscription in the absence of sufficient volunteers, of which an initial 15,000 are required with a target of 80,000, whom the government plans to entice with high salaries.
As the German Bundeswehr grapples with a shortage of 60,000 soldiers, Chancellor Freidrich Merz said, “We will probably … not be able to manage with the current voluntary system alone, but will need additional elements of compulsory military service.”
The poll, conducted by the Forsa polling institute for the magazine Internationale Politik, found that 64 percent of German respondents were in favour of establishing a European nuclear shield as a deterrent, while only 29 percent were opposed.
Some 45 percent of German respondents favour spending 5 percent of GDP on defence that compared to 37 percent who oppose it, with 18 percent saying they don’t know, a poll from YouGov conducted for the Munich-based newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung showed.
The U.S. and German governments announced plans for the deployment of U.S. missile systems that could reach Russia. These include nuclear-capable Tomahawk cruise missiles with a range of 2,500 kilometres, SM-6 anti-aircraft missiles and newly-developed hypersonic missiles.
Economic researchers and partners in the ruling coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz have warned of immense economic costs and legal difficulties that could result from plans for military conscription proposed by Defence Minister Boris Pistorius in June in an attempt to boost the numbers of the German armed forces.
German military spending is set to increase by only EUR 1.2 billion (USD 1.3 billion) under the terms of the preliminary 2025 national budget agreed on Friday, far below the demands of Defence Minister Boris Pistorius.
Scholz: “At best, it’s the start of a process that could lead to direct talks between Ukraine and Russia. In Switzerland, it will be about the safety of nuclear power plants, grain exports, the issue of prisoner exchanges and the necessary taboo on the use of nuclear weapons. Once again, this is all still in its infancy.”
