Germans in this age group should not only notify the armed forces of the Federal Republic (Bundeswehr) of their plans to stay abroad for longer than three months before they travel, but also have them approved in advance by the army. <\/p>\n
This applies, for example, to those who want to go abroad for a semester, to travel for a longer period, or to take a so\u2011called sabbatical abroad.<\/p>\n
The ministry, under public pressure, was looking for a way to explain the legislation and, at the same time, amend it so that it required as little bureaucracy as possible.<\/p>\n
Nobody noticed it <\/p>\n
The conscription law came into force on 1 January 2026. Among other things, it regulates the scope and duration of military service. <\/p>\n
As the daily S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung noted<\/a>, nobody was hiding paragraph 3. In fact, anyone who wanted could simply read it.<\/p>\n Section 1 dealt with mandatory military service, even though Germany had not reintroduced it after more than 15 years. <\/p>\n Section 2 is about travel abroad.<\/p>\n \u201cMale persons who have reached the age of 17 must obtain the consent of the competent Bundeswehr career centre if they intend to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for longer than three months,\u201d the law stated.<\/p>\n According to the law, this obligation ended at the age of 45 and applied even when no state of emergency had been declared in the country. <\/p>\n Although the law was clear, it only sparked extensive debate in Germany in April. <\/p>\n According to S\u00fcddeutsche Zeitung, the essence of the problem lay in the fact that nobody considered<\/a> it necessary to communicate the issue proactively, even though the law had already been the subject of emotional discussions before it was adopted.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s defence ministry now came under public pressure and had to explain the provision.<\/p>\n Confusion over details<\/p>\n During the Easter holidays, the ministry tried to explain the issue by saying that, in an emergency, it needed to know who was staying abroad for a long period. <\/p>\n At the same time, it insisted that it would not prevent anyone from travelling \u2013 as long as Germany had voluntary and not compulsory military service, and as long as the country was not at war.<\/p>\n It stressed that, at this stage, it was purely a formality. <\/p>\n When asked by German media how, and indeed whether, the men concerned actually had to obtain permission in practice, and how many times any of the country\u2019s 15 Bundeswehr career centres had actually issued it, the ministry did not respond and provided no details.<\/p>\n The ministry also did not clarify how it detected breaches of the obligation or how it punished them. <\/p>\n \u201cThis rule already applied during the Cold War and had no practical significance \u2014 and, above all, it was not subject to any sanctions,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n The obligation to approve longer stays abroad has been in the legislation for some time; according to the weekly Spiegel, it was introduced<\/a> in 1965, but only four years later, it was amended so that the applicant had to receive approval as long as there was no risk of being called up for military service.<\/p>\n In 2011, Germany suspended conscription, so these paragraphs became irrelevant. <\/p>\n However, when the amended law came into force, the rule on travel became applicable again.<\/p>\n The opposition Greens, but also the governing Christian Democratic Union (CDU\/CSU), criticised the approach of the ministry led by Boris Pistorius<\/a> of the Social Democrats (SPD), saying it had not explained the issue sufficiently.<\/p>\n Pistorius promised on Tuesday (7 April) that the government would amend the law later this week. At the same time, he insisted that nothing was changing for men.<\/p>\n \u201cCurrently, nothing changes for men: whether 17 or 45 years old, or somewhere in between \u2014 everyone is of course allowed to travel and currently does not need a permit to do so,\u201d the defence minister said in response on Tuesday<\/a>.<\/p>\n Army sending out questionnaires<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/b15c3c226ffee2711837c34e2ceb1234-600x400.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\n
![\"Ako](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/germany\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Snimka-obrazovky-2026-04-08-113220.jpg\")