The German parliament has rubberstamped a new model for military service that aims to boost its armed forces, as thousands of school pupils demonstrated across the country against the plans.<\/p>\n
The change will include the obligatory screening of all 18-year-old men to gauge their suitability to serve in the military from 1 January, but does not include conscription<\/a>, as favoured by some conservative politicians.<\/p>\n If the new model fails to pull in enough recruits, parliament will be compelled to discuss the reintroduction of conscription, the defence minister, Boris Pistorius, told the Bundestag.<\/p>\n Pupils missed classes to take part in climate protest-style \u201cschool strike\u201d demonstrations against the legislation in 90 towns and cities, despite education authorities\u2019 warnings the abstention could affect their end of year grades.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m striking against conscription and in opposition to the rearmament that\u2019s taking place, not least as I don\u2019t think the government is doing enough to secure peace through diplomatic means,\u201d said Alicia, a 17-year-old taking part in a demonstration in Kreuzberg, Berlin.<\/p>\n MPs addressed pupils\u2019 concerns that young people\u2019s futures were being put at risk amid pressure on anyone born from 2008 to join up.<\/p>\n Demonstrators take part in a rally in Cologne on Thursday ahead of the schools strike day against conscription. Photograph: Ying Tang\/NurPhoto\/Shutterstock<\/p>\n Siemtje M\u00f6ller, of the SPD, junior partners in coalition with chancellor Friedrich Merz\u2019s conservatives, pushed back against what she referred to as the \u201cpure populist\u201d message of the protest. \u201cWe are neither deciding today that you will be obliged to serve in the armed forces, nor that we will be drawing lots to send you to Ukraine as cannon fodder,\u201d she said. \u201cThat is pure populism, or simply nonsense.\u201d<\/p>\n She expressed the sentiment building over recent weeks that a surge in interest in the German armed forces will ensure enough volunteers will be found to boost numbers to a total of 460,000, consisting of 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists.<\/p>\n Currently Germany<\/a> has 182,000 active soldiers and just under 50,000 reservists.<\/p>\n In 2011, under the government of Angela Merkel, Germany suspended its military conscription programme, which had been in place from 1956, in order to modernise it for the post-cold-war world, where it was thought the focus would be on foreign missions requiring the skills of a professional army rather than conscripts needed to fight a war.<\/p>\n Pistorius called the law \u201ca critical step towards our ability to defend ourselves\u201d, adding: \u201cOur allies are looking to us.\u201d<\/p>\n The law was passed by 323 votes to 272, with one abstention. Among those against it were the far-right populist AfD and the far-left Die Linke.<\/p>\n Desiree Backer, of Die Linke, urged young people to stand up against the law, which she said was \u201canything but voluntary\u201d, as 18-year-olds would be obliged to fill out a questionnaire. She also pointed to evasive answers given by ministers when questioned over whether they would be prepared to see their own children conscripted.<\/p>\n \u201cYoung people have other plans than risking their lives for the rich,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to This is Europe<\/p>\n The most pressing stories and debates for Europeans \u2013 from identity to economics to the environment<\/p>\n Privacy Notice: <\/strong>Newsletters may contain information about charities, online ads, and content funded by outside parties. If you do not have an account, we will create a guest account for you on theguardian.com<\/a> to send you this newsletter. You can complete full registration at any time. For more information about how we use your data see our Privacy Policy<\/a>. We use Google reCaptcha to protect our website and the Google Privacy Policy<\/a> and Terms of Service<\/a> apply.<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n For the AfD, R\u00fcdiger Lucassen criticised as \u201csuperficial\u201d attempts to attract young people to military service by increasing their pay substantially and boosting fringe benefits, such as the financing of driving licences and language classes.<\/p>\n \u201cSoldiers who come for the pay have no solid foundation for their service,\u201d he said, calling for a military service with a nationalist bent whereby young people would be driven by patriotism, not money, to serve their country. \u201cThe German soldier must know what he is fighting for,\u201d he said, arguing that soldiers should follow the centuries-old tradition to \u201cfight for their country, not for a government\u201d.<\/p>\n Critics called his stance problematic for failing to refer in that context to the atrocities committed by German soldiers during the Nazi era.<\/p>\n The historic vote took place ahead of another key piece of legislation regarding the German state pension, also expected to have a significant influence on the lives of young Germans.<\/p>\n