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Politicians approve the controversial conscription law after months of heated debate, amid fears over a potential war with Russia.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n About 3,000 people have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest against Germany\u2019s new military service bill, after Bundestag politicians backed the legislation intended to bolster the country\u2019s armed forces.<\/p>\n Germany\u2019s parliament approved the controversial conscription legislation on Friday after months of heated debate. It comes amid a pledge by NATO allies to increase defence spending, boosting Europe\u2019s defence capabilities amid fears Russia\u2019s war on Ukraine could spill across its borders.<\/p>\n list of 3 items<\/span>end of list<\/span><\/section>\n Tess Datzer, an 18-year-old protester in the German capital, said she felt it was unfair for her generation to have to go to war \u201cfor a country that does little for us\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is no investment in our pensions, not in our future, not in the climate. I don\u2019t see any good reasons why our generation should have to go to war,\u201d she told the AFP news agency.<\/p>\n Protest organiser Ronja Ruh said an \u201cunbelievable amount of money is being spent on the military and armament\u201d in Germany, while funds are lacking in basic public services.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen we look at schools in particular, there is outdated technology, far too few teachers, dilapidated school buildings,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The military service bill sets ambitious expansion goals for the Bundeswehr, as Germany\u2019s armed forces are known, with a target of up to 260,000 active soldiers \u2013 up from 183,000 currently \u2013 and 200,000 reservists by 2035.<\/p>\n It introduces a dual-track system to boost recruits: a more lucrative voluntary service intended to attract young recruits, but if enlistment falls short, lawmakers can now activate needs-based conscription.<\/p>\n To do so, the politicians would be required to hold a Bundestag vote. If more people are eligible for conscription than needed, recruits may be randomly selected.<\/p>\n All men born after January 1, 2008, will undergo medical evaluation, in a move not seen since Germany suspended conscription in 2011. Both 18-year-old men and women will be asked to declare their willingness to serve, though only men must respond.<\/p>\n Countries across Europe \u2013 including France, Italy and Belgium, as well as the Nordic and Baltic states \u2013 are moving to expand voluntary service and strengthen mandatory conscription in their armed forces in response to Russian provocation.<\/p>\n European leaders and intelligence services believe Russia could mount an assault elsewhere on the continent, with Germany\u2019s top military official, Carsten Breuer, saying in 2024 that Moscow could be ready to attack NATO countries in five to eight years\u2019 time.<\/p>\n In late November, announcing the reintroduction of a limited form of military service in France 25 years after conscription was formally ended, President Emmanuel Macron said, \u201cthe only way to avoid danger is to prepare for it\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cWe need to mobilise, mobilising the nation to defend itself, to be ready and remain respected,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n In the meantime, European leaders have accused Moscow of engaging in a form of hybrid warfare \u2013 including infrastructure sabotage, drone infiltrations and cyberattacks \u2013 as President Vladimir Putin tests NATO\u2019s limits.<\/p>\n United States President Donald Trump\u2019s apparent waning commitment to the alliance \u2013 accusing Europe of taking advantage of Washington and calling on the continent to become more militarily self-reliant \u2013 has also pushed European leaders to act.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Politicians approve the controversial conscription law after months of heated debate, amid fears over a potential war with Russia. About 3,000 people have taken to the streets of Berlin to protest against Germany\u2019s new military service bill, after Bundestag politicians backed the legislation intended to bolster the country\u2019s armed forces. Germany\u2019s parliament approved the controversial […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4523,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4522","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-europe-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=4522"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4522\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/4523"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4522"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4522"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/inernews.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4522"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Recommended Stories <\/h2>\n
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