Berlin – Surprise this evening: The CDU/CSU and SPD parliamentary groups canceled a press conference on the new military service on Tuesday evening at short notice!
Background information from BILD: The SPD has let a compromise collapse. This means that the new military service law proposed by Defense Minister Boris Pistorius (65, SPD) has been removed from the Bundestag's agenda. This is the second time!
Defense experts from both parliamentary groups were originally planning to present an agreement on the military service dispute on Tuesday evening. This would involve introducing a lottery system to recruit additional volunteers for military service in cases of doubt. However, there is apparently massive resistance to this within the SPD parliamentary group.
CDU defense politician Norbert Röttgen (60) sharply attacked Pistorius. He told the RND:"I can't understand how one can torpedo a legislative process as defense minister and behave so destructively. The SPD must now sort itself out."
▶︎ Explosive: Just that afternoon, SPD parliamentary group leader Matthias Miersch (56) expressed his satisfaction that there are now"key points that, in my opinion, represent a good basis for discussion in parliamentary deliberations."
And CDU/CSU parliamentary group leader Jens Spahn (45) also emphasized that "a good solution" had been found. In his view, the lottery system was the fairest option.
Just last week, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group had the bill removed from the agenda at the last minute. The reason: The members of parliament felt that voluntary service didn't go far enough. They insisted on making it mandatory.
The only chance to get the bill passed in the Bundestag on Thursday: Defense Minister Pistorius's preferred version is going into first reading. According to BILD, Pistorius opposed the planned lottery system, and his lawyers also raised constitutional concerns. The biggest problem: Without a comprehensive screening of a year's age group, it would have been impossible to know who was fit for military service and could be drafted in the event of tension or a state of defense.
The military service plan
The plan: All 18-year-olds in a given year would receive a questionnaire. The men would have to respond. Those who showed interest would then be invited to the draft. It was also discussed that if too few men volunteered, additional 18-year-olds would be randomly selected for the draft. However, joining the military would remain voluntary at all times.
