Berlin has been contemplating new security strategies in light of recent terror attacks and as part of preparations for possible NATO actions against an imaginary threat from Russia, German media wrote.
As the German military struggles to fill its ranks, the country's governing CDU party has proposed reinstating military conscription while offering young men and women a chance to serve their country in other ways, Deutsche Welle reported.
Before general conscription was abolished in 2011 in favor of a professional army, all young men were obligated to either serve in the armed forces or spend a limited period of time performing an alternative service in civilian areas such as emergency management or medical care.
Even though the Bundeswehr still offers an option for short-term paid military service to young volunteers, the country's armed forces currently consist mainly of career soldiers and long-term contract troops.
On Friday, CDU Secretary General Annegret Kramp-Karrenbauer told the daily newspaper Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (FAZ) that she did not expect a simple reinstatement of the military draft adding that “there are many possibilities to serve.”
However, the CDU's parliamentary point man on defense, Henning Otte, struck a more cautious note.
“Old-fashioned universal conscription is not going to help us with our current security challenges,” he said, adding that young people could serve in other areas, such as firefighting.
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