Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on August 27, 2025
1 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Add as preferred source on GoogleGermany's cabinet approved a bill for voluntary military service, aiming to double reservists and potentially leading to conscription if goals are unmet.
BERLIN (Reuters) -Germany's cabinet passed a draft bill on Wednesday that would introduce first a voluntary military service, and could lead to conscription if recruitment goals are missed, the government said in a statement.
The defence ministry hopes the voluntary six-month scheme will help double the number of trained reservists from the current level of around 100,000 and that some of the volunteers will go on to have a career in active service.
Minister Boris Pistorius wants to increase the number of soldiers in service from 180,000 to 260,000 by the early 2030s to meet new NATO force targets and strengthen its defences - part of a planned surge in military spending.
(Reporting by Markus Wacket, Andreas Rinke and Sarah Marsh, Editing by Miranda Murray)
The bill aims to introduce a voluntary military service to increase the number of trained reservists and potentially lead to conscription if recruitment goals are not met.
Germany plans to increase its number of soldiers in service from 180,000 to 260,000 by the early 2030s to meet new NATO force targets.
The proposed voluntary military service is set to last for six months.
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