Germany

Germany is considering reintroducing compulsory military conscription for all men by 2027.

The country has attempted to bolster its armed forces through volunteer schemes to counter the growing threat from Russia, but lawmakers fear this is insufficient.

Thomas Röwekamp, chairman of the German parliament’s defence committee, warned that Berlin would have little choice but to revive conscription if ambitious recruitment targets were not met.

Germany’s voluntary military recruitment drive has yielded just 530 new recruits from almost 300,000 18-year-olds contacted this year, prompting harsh criticism of the government’s plans to rejuvenate the country’s armed forces.

Five months after the launch of Germany’s new military registration system, the Defence Ministry said it had sent questionnaires to 298,200 young men and women who turn 18 in 2026. While completing the questionnaire is mandatory for men, women are invited to participate voluntarily.

The Ministry for State Security (Stasi), the infamous secret police of the communist German Democratic Republic (GDR), was one of the most ruthless and pervasive instruments of repression ever created in Europe. Operating as the iron fist of the communist dictatorship, the Socialist Unity Party of Germany (SED), the Stasi maintained a suffocating web of surveillance over its own population. Nearly 91,000 full-time officers and up to 189,000 unofficial collaborators (Inoffizielle Mitarbeiter, IM) — meaning roughly one in every six or seven East Germans — was spying on family, colleagues, or friends.