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German men aged between 17 and 45 must get military approval if they want to leave the country for more than three months, according to the latest law change.
A German Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed that they expect approval to be granted as long as service in the German forces is voluntary.
This comes as the country attempts to increase its military footprint, with new incentives to join and talks around conscription.
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Changes to the law to reintroduce voluntary military service – for now – are due at the end of 2025.
However, last weekend, German publication Frankfurter Rundschau noticed another change to Germany’s Wehrpflichtgesetz (WPflG) – the Cold War era military service law.
This change, when translated into English, means that “men must obtain permission from the competent career center of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces) upon reaching the age of 17 if they wish to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for more than three months”.
Previously, this only applied in cases of “tension” or “defense”.
However, WPflG was changed to be universally applicable, with the maximum age affected being 45 years.
Conscription in Germany was suspended in 2011, but the war in Ukraine and the global unrest that followed have sparked discussions about whether conscription should be returned to mandatory from voluntary status.
The German Ministry of Defense emphasized that the system was already in place during the Cold War and had “no practical relevance; in particular, it is not subject to punishment”.
Instead, they say the system is intended for use in emergencies because the military needs to know who may be living abroad for long periods of time.
Exceptions are being made to prevent “unnecessary bureaucracy”, they added.
The British government has rejected suggestions that it would introduce conscription, although it has introduced measures to try to encourage people to join the armed forces.
Germany is seeking to increase the number of troops it has in the Bundeswehr from 180,000 to 260,000, with reserves estimated at 200,000.
If the UK Air Force, Navy and Royal Army were combined, the number would be just under 150,000, according to a House of Lords report published last year, including full-time reservists.
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Of these, 82,000 were in the Army, 33,000 in the Royal Navy or Royal Marines, and 32,000 in the Royal Air Force.
Like most NATO members, the UK has committed to increasing its defense budget in the coming years, although questions remain about how this will happen as the Defense Investment Plan has not yet been published.
