Berlin: The German army must be fully prepared to participate in a potential conflict by 2029, Bundeswehr Inspector General Carsten Breuer said. “Our goal is 2029, by that time we must be in a state of full combat readiness,” Breuer stated in an interview with the German newspaper Welt. He cited the potential threat of a Russian attack on any NATO country as a reason for setting this timeline.

According to Namibia Press Agency, Germany is ready to train an additional 100,000 soldiers as reservists by the end of the 2020s. Breuer estimated that the German military should have a total of 460,000 troops, with 200,000 of them being active personnel. This move aligns with the statements made by Friedrich Merz, the leader of the CDU/CSU bloc and likely future German chancellor, who mentioned that the new government would develop military conscription following the Swedish model, keeping military service voluntary.

Universal military service in Germany was abolished on July 1, 2011, and conscription during peacetime has not occurred since then. In March, Florian Hahn, a member of the Bundestag from the Christian Social Union (CSU), advocated for reinstating military service by the end of 2025, citing worsening foreign policy conditions. However, German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius pointed out the challenges of a barracks shortage, emphasizing the need to gather data on conscripts before reintroducing universal military service.