German military service reform triggers major youth protests

BERLIN — School students across Germany skipped class Friday to demonstrate against the government reform on military service.

On Friday, the German parliament approved a legal change requiring all 18-year-old men to fill in a questionnaire about their fitness and willingness to serve in the military. For women, the questionnaire will remain voluntary.

As part of the reform, the governing coalition also agreed to reinstate mandatory medical examinations starting for men born in 2008 onward. If the military fails to meet its recruitment targets for voluntary service, a portion of those examined could be called up after a separate Bundestag vote. 

Protests are being held in around 90 towns and cities across Germany. According to Berlin police, around 800 people gathered to protest the reform in the morning, with several thousand expected in Germany’s capital by the end of the day.

The initiative behind the protest, Schulstreik gegen Wehrpflicht (school strike against conscription), said on its website: “Politicians [and] Bundeswehr … argue how we should reintroduce conscription. But no one talks to us. No one asks us what we want.”

Martin, a high school student from a town in Brandenburg, the state surrounding Berlin, was among the students who skipped school to object.

“Why resolve wars by arming up? That’s just repeating what happened before the First and Second World Wars,” the 16-year-old, who only gave his first name due to privacy concerns, told POLITICO in central Berlin.

He had been figuring out how to circumvent the draft, he said, for example by going to a psychologist or being declared ill. “Why should I do what old men tell me to do?” he asked. “I’d be actively doing training that doesn’t help me in life except to learn how to kill people.”

Nils, a 17-year-old high school student who also only provided his first name, argued he had nothing against peers joining the armed forces per se, but that the compulsory aspect of the law had prompted him to attend the demonstration.

“The problem I have with it is that it shouldn’t be forced on anyone. Maybe they should consider making the profession of soldier more attractive to those who want to become soldiers,” he said.

German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius on Thursday addressed students in a video message on Instagram. “Everyone can protest for and against everything. Freedom of expression is one of the major achievements of our democracy. Our entire way of life is a gift — but a gift we have to defend every single day.

“If you want to live in the same way in the future … then you need to be willing to stand up for it,” Pistorius added. “Neither democracy nor the state can defend themselves. People have to do that, just as they did in the past.”

Germany plans to increase its force levels from 180,000 to 260,000 active soldiers, and from 55,000 to 200,000 reservists to meet NATO readiness targets amid a growing threat from Russia.

The ruling parties — the conservative bloc and the center-left Social Democrats — debated the reform for months, before reaching a deal on the law change in November.