The Social Democratic Party and Merz agree: compulsory conscription may include women in Germany
The Social Democratic Party announced its support for Chancellor Friedrich Merz's (CDU) proposal regarding the inclusion of women in any potential return to mandatory military conscription. The deputy chair of the party's parliamentary group, Simtih Müller, stated that if we are serious about equality, the discussion must also include mandatory military service for women.
However, Müller clarified that such a step requires a constitutional amendment with a two-thirds majority in the Bundestag, which she considers unlikely at this time. She confirmed that the Social Democratic Party remains committed to the new model of voluntary military service, which she believes can attract enough recruits without the need to reinstate mandatory conscription.
For his part, Merz said in an interview on French television that if the voluntary model fails to fill the gaps in the Bundeswehr, it will be necessary to have a "mechanism for returning to mandatory military service," which "should also apply to women in practice." His statements were in line with the concerns of CDU/CSU that voluntary recruitment alone may not be sufficient to fill the large gap in personnel.
The Left Party strongly opposed the idea, considering it not a step towards equality but a regression. Defense expert Desiree Baker stated that forcing women into mandatory service does not signify progress but rather a diminishment of their independence, noting that the proposal does not promote true equality. Since amending the basic law requires a two-thirds majority, the Left Party has confirmed that it will resist any move towards conscripting women.
At the same time, the federal cabinet approved a draft law to expand the Bundeswehr by tens of thousands of soldiers, focusing on voluntary service. Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) confirmed that conscription is not on the table at the moment, but he did not rule out returning to it later. With only 182,000 soldiers currently, and raising the target to 260,000, doubts remain — especially from the CDU/CSU side — about whether the voluntary model alone can meet Germany's increasing defense needs.