Compulsory military service could be reconsidered: Merz
Berlin: German Chancellor Friedrich Merz on Tuesday said his coalition's plans for a voluntary military service could be reconsidered.
'I share the assessment of the defence minister that we are already short of a high five-digit number of soldiers in the Bundeswehr,' Merz said after a meeting with Dutch Prime Minister Dick Schoof in Berlin. The Bundeswehr is Germany's military.
Merz said the government will 'have to take a close look' at whether programmes and voluntary service are sufficient to recruit enough soldiers to fill the army's ranks in line with new NATO targets. 'If voluntary service is not enough, then we will have to discuss additional steps very soon.' Merz emphasized that additional measures would not be in breach of his conservative bloc's coalition agreement with the centre-left Social Democratic Party (SPD). (DPA)
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