majority in Germany oppose military draft

By Vanessa Reiber

Berlin (dpa) — A majority of Germans are against the idea of using a lottery to determine who should do military service under a planned new law, according to a survey.

Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s government is intent on bringing back a form of military service, which was suspended in 2011, to respond to the growing threat from Russia and boost the German military, the Bundeswehr, in line with new NATO defence targets.

According to a survey conducted by the INSA institute for the Sunday edition of the Bild newspaper, 60% of those questioned believe it is wrong to use a lottery system to decide who should be conscripted if there are not enough volunteers.

About a fifth of respondents believe it would be right to use a lottery system. Some 11% of respondents said they did not care about the regulation and 8% did not answer the question.

Defence Minister Boris Pistorius told Bild that the decision regarding how to expand the army’s ranks was now up to parliament.

Voluntary participation should be the model for as long as possible, he said.

Widespread conscription in Germany would be noticed in the Kremlin, he told the newspaper, describing it as a type of “deterrent” against Russia.

According to the survey, younger respondents are more likely to be against the idea of a lottery system.

In the 18 to 29 age group, only 20% are in favour, while 50% are against.

The German coalition government is struggling to agree on the terms of the new military service law, which is due to come into force on January 1.

Under the new law, military service is to be voluntary. But a dispute over the past few days has centred on what mechanisms should be used if there are not enough volunteers for the Bundeswehr and whether there should be a return to compulsory conscription at some point in the future.

Some politicians from both the conservatives and the Social Democrats – who are in coalition together – have proposed that young men be selected for conscription by lottery and, if necessary, later also by random selection for compulsory service if the number of volunteers remains too low.

When asked whether military service should be compulsory or whether there should be a volunteer model, 44% of respondents were in favour of a return to compulsory military service and 38% favoured a volunteer model.

INSA interviewed 1,003 people for the survey between October 16-17.