Germany is considering military conscription for millions of school leavers

The German Defence Minister has announced he wants military conscription to be introduced for millions of school leavers.

Boris Pistorius is pushing hard to introduce military conscription for those aged 18-years old.

Germany has a shortfall of soldiers after conscription was stopped in 2011 and the country are short of numbers to fulfil NATO defence plans.

The German newspaper Die Welt obtained leaked documents of the plans which shows that officials are now in the final stages of three options to introduce conscription.

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The first potential stage would see 18-year-olds forced to take part in a year of military service, the second could see the teenagers apply to undergo testing to find suitable candidates.

The third option would have school leavers sent a form to fill out for both men and woman, which officials have described as the “least promising.”

The German Defence Minister said he is “convinced that Germany needs some form of conscription,” he recently announced during a trip to the US.

A spokeswoman for Germany’s defence ministry said last week, “With the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and the military invasion of Ukraine, Russia demonstrated its willingness to use force to change borders in Europe.”

She added what Germany needs “more than ever is a Bundeswehr that is capable of acting and reacting,” this allows the “anchoring the Bundeswehr in society.”

The German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Berlin will “not return to a conscript army with 400,000 soldiers,” but he has not ruled out some form of compulsory military conscription.

The UK’s former NATO commander General Sir Richard Sherriff has said that it is now time to “think the unthinkable” and is urging the government to introduce conscription.

In March two Baltic leaders urged NATO members that there is a need for a “serious discussion about conscription” as war between Russia and the West could be looking more likely.

Latvian President Edgars Rinkevics said that now is the time for NATO members to speed up their defence spending of their respective GDP and prepare for war.

Speaking to The Financial Times Rinkevics said, “There is a need for serious discussion about conscription.”

The Latvian President added, “Nobody wants to fight. But the problem is nobody wants to be invaded as well. And nobody wants to see Ukraine happening here.”