Berlin, May 24 (AP) Germany may reinstate compulsory military service if a revamped volunteer system fails to meet recruitment goals, the defence minister said in comments published Saturday.

In an interview with the Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Boris Pistorius laid out a timeline for Germany's new military service model, which aims to bolster the understrength army. The initial programme will rely on voluntary enlistment, but Pistorius warned that could change.

Also Read | X Outage in India: Elon Musk's Platform Down in Country, Thousands of Indian Users Unable To Login and Load New Posts.

“If the time comes when we have more capacity available than voluntary registrations, then a decision may be made to make recruitment mandatory. That is the roadmap,” he said.

He said the government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz is moving quickly on a new military service bill and hopes it will come into force as early as January 2026.

Also Read | Russia-Ukraine Prisoner Swap: Moscow Says Both Countries Swapped Hundreds More Prisoners, Hours After Mass Strike on Kyiv.

The debate over reinstating conscription in Germany has been intensifying as concerns rise about national defense readiness and evolving security threats in Europe.

Germany suspended its draft in 2011, but has struggled to meet troop targets as defence demands grow following Russia's 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine. Pistorius also said the military service plan would include efforts to reactivate more reservists. (AP)

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)