←back to thread

Germany votes to bring in voluntary military service programme for 18-year-olds

(www.bbc.com)
126 points petermcneeley | 1 comments | 06 Dec 25 19:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.001s | source
Show context
bethekidyouwant ◴[06 Dec 25 23:21 UTC] No.46177546[source]▶
“The change means that all 18-year-olds in Germany will be sent a questionnaire from January 2026 asking if they are interested and willing to join the armed forces. The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.“ - all men have to fill out and return a form, I suppose this will work to increase recruitment. Doesn’t seem very controversial.
replies(6): >>46177581 #>>46177586 #>>46177606 #>>46177718 #>>46177787 #>>46177922 #
throw310822 ◴[06 Dec 25 23:28 UTC] No.46177581[source]▶
Why do they have to fill it in and return it just to say no? Could this be used against them at some time in the future? And why women instead can just ignore it?

Usually HN is very wary of the consequences of the state collecting data about its citizens and restricting freedoms in small steps. Is it not the case now?

replies(2): >>46177618 #>>46177772 #
1. fabian2k ◴[06 Dec 25 23:54 UTC] No.46177772[source]▶
Mandatory military service existed before in Germany, not all that long ago. So this is mostly returned to the same mechanisms as back then, though with the actual service being voluntary for now. And to include woman you'd have to change the constitution, as that part is specific to men.