German defence chief expects thousands of volunteers to join army

German Defence Minister Boris Pistorius has expressed confidence that the Bundeswehr (Armed Forces) will be able to attract around 20,000 volunteers in 2026, taking into account the recent reform of military service.

According to Spiegel, Pistorius had so far refrained from making specific statements about recruitment plans for voluntary service.

However, MPs from the Christian Democratic Union and Christian Social Union (CDU/CSU) had demanded exact figures from the minister, arguing that these numbers should form the basis for deciding whether there is a need to reinstate mandatory military service.

In 2025, just over 12,000 people signed up for voluntary service, significantly below the minister’s initial target of 15,000. Pistorius is now taking a political risk. If the target is not met, the CDU/CSU will likely use it as an argument in debates about bringing back conscription before the end of 2026.

In December last year, the Bundestag (lower house of parliament) and Bundesrat (upper house of parliament) approved a law to modernise military service. At the same time, CDU/CSU MPs criticised the bill for lacking clear criteria under which voluntary service could be converted into mandatory service, which had previously slowed the law’s adoption.

By Khagan Isayev