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

The article is using "voluntary" in a very questionable fashion.

> Germany's parliament, the Bundestag, has voted to introduce voluntary military service...

> The form will be mandatory for men and voluntary for women.

> The government says military service will be voluntary for as long as possible, but from July 2027, all 18-year-old men will have to take a medical exam to assess their fitness for possible military service.

> a form of compulsory military service could be considered by the Bundestag.

Well, that escalated quickly. There's nothing here that could be really described as "voluntary".

Military service was only recently abolished in Germany. And compared to the old system, this one would qualify as voluntary for now. This might not remain that way, but that's probably an issue to discuss if and when that happens. There's all kinds of other challenges at that point, and I think at that point challenges based on fairness could be valid (as only some people are drafted, not everyone).