More than 12,000 people have reportedly sought exemption from military service so far this year
The number of Germans seeking conscientious objector status has risen sharply amid Berlin’s military buildup and debate over reinstating conscription, the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND) reported on Tuesday.
According to RND, whose parent company is partly owned by the ruling coalition’s Social Democratic Party (SPD), Germany’s Federal Office for Family Affairs and Civil Society Functions received 12,102 conscientious objection applications between January and August, compared with 3,879 in all of 2025 and 2,249 in 2024. Applicants include reservists, active-duty troops and people who have never served in the military.
Germany suspended the draft in 2011. Following the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, Berlin announced plans to expand the Bundeswehr from around 186,000 active-duty troops to more than 260,000 by 2035, backed by 200,000 reservists. Senior German officials have cited the country’s NATO commitments and a perceived threat from Russia to justify the military buildup. Moscow has repeatedly dismissed claims that it intends to attack NATO as “nonsense.”
Several politicians in Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s ruling coalition have argued that conscription may have to be reinstated if voluntary recruitment falls short.
A new military service system introduced this year requires all 18-year-old men to register for potential service. Enlistment remains voluntary, but parliament can activate compulsory service if recruitment targets are not met or the security situation deteriorates.
Such a prospect has fueled student protests across Germany. In late September, organizers of the so-called School Strike Against Conscription said around 45,000 demonstrators took to the streets in some 100 cities and towns.
Defense Minister Boris Pistorius has warned that Russia could attack a NATO member as early as 2028 and suggested compulsory service may be necessary to boost Germany’s preparedness.
Last May, Merz pledged to turn the Bundeswehr into the strongest conventional military force in the EU.
Moscow has sharply criticized Germany’s military buildup. Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov warned earlier this year that Germany and the EU risked evolving into a “Fourth Reich.”
