The German government has announced an agreement to introduce a voluntary military service model, sparking a debate in the country about the role of women in the military.
In the new plan, An agreement was reached after several months of discussion.all 18-year-old males are considered eligible for military service and must undergo mandatory registration and medical examinations and fill out a questionnaire to indicate interest in full enlistment.
The plan is based on recruiting enough volunteers to serve in the military, but if not enough the government will consider other options, including a system of random selection.
The project is gender-neutral in principle, but only young men are required to fill out a questionnaire and participate in a compulsory medical examination. Women are also encouraged to register, but it is not required.
This distinction has sparked a wave of debate and claims across social media, some of which blur the line between criticism and misinformation.
Why aren’t women required to serve in the military?
One online post suggests women are being victimized intentionally excluded From the German Army or Bundeswehr. Some believe that Germany is forcing women into the military. Some frame the movement’s failure to require women to join as a failure of feminism.
So why aren’t women obliged to register in the German military like men?
Simply put, that’s because Germany’s constitution doesn’t allow it, at least not yet.
Article 12a german basic law It states that men can be “compulsory to serve in the armed forces, federal border forces or civil defense organizations from the age of 18.” This requirement does not include women.
However, you are not excluded from participating. It’s just that you’re not legally required to participate.
Women have been allowed to serve in combat posts since 2001 following a European Court of Justice ruling giving women unrestricted access to military careers. There are more than that 24,000 female soldiers They currently serve in the German Bundeswehr, making up approximately 13% of its military personnel.
legal expertcampaigners and feminists argue that elements of the constitution that exclude women from the military contradict Article 3, Section 2, which guarantees equal rights for women and men. Similarly, others also discussed Women are at a fundamental disadvantage compared to men, and compulsory military service will only strengthen that position.
German Chancellor Friedrich Merz Respond to corrections Although there is a constitution that allows women to be drafted into the military, his path is fraught with political difficulties.
Amending the constitution requires a two-thirds majority in Congress, which requires votes from both the far left and right.
Left-wing parties have long opposed forced conscription, including for women, and the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is in favor of it. not clear How many of our members are looking to expand this to include women as well as men?
How does Germany compare to other European countries?
Germany opted for a volunteer-first model, but several neighboring countries went further and introduced universal conscription for men and women alike.
In recent years, an increasing number of European countries, particularly the Nordic countries, have introduced universal conscription.
Norway brought in In 2015, India became the first NATO member country to impose compulsory military service on women. Sweden followed suit in 2017 as part of a broader move to reintroduce conscription. pause it In 2010.
Denmark recently Updated conscription policy Women will also be included in the lottery-based system that will be implemented in 2026.
In some countries, this is a little more subtle. In the Netherlands, women are legally conscripted, but It was brought in in 2018but this was mainly symbolic, since there is compulsory military service Not actively enforced since 1997.
But overall, Germany is not an outlier within Europe. In countries with compulsory military service, women’s enlistment is voluntary for the majority.
Unlike men, women in Austria, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, Lithuania, Switzerland and Ukraine are not required to enlist in the military, but may do so voluntarily for various roles depending on the country.
The same goes for Belarus, Russia and Türkiye, with Croatia set to join the group in early 2026.
In other European countries, military service is not compulsory for both women and men, but they can volunteer to serve in various capacities.
In Europe, including France, Poland, Spain and the United Kingdom, women are increasingly being allowed to serve in combat and frontline roles.
For example, in Britain, all roles in the military were open to women. December 2018. In Poland, women have technically been eligible to serve in all military positions since 1999.
In France, women can technically serve in almost all branches of the military, but integration has been gradual, and women were only allowed to serve on nuclear submarines in 2017.
