Recruitment poses main problem for German armed forces, says commissioner

BERLIN, March 3 (Reuters) - Recruitment is the biggest problem facing Germany's armed forces and Berlin will have to reinstate conscription if a voluntary scheme fails to attract sufficient people, the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces said on Tuesday.

Facing perceived threats from Russia and pressure from the United States, Chancellor Friedrich Merz plans to rebuild the Bundeswehr into Europe's strongest conventional army.

Germany, which is trying to make up for years of underinvestment in defence with a spending splurge, aims to increase the number of soldiers to 260,000 from almost 185,000 and double the number of reservists to 200,000 by the mid-2030s.

To this end, it is introducing a voluntary scheme under which all 18-year-olds receive a questionnaire about their interest in serving.

In his annual report on the armed forces, commissioner Henning Otte, who acts an armed-forces ombudsman reporting to parliament, said this may not be enough.

"Personnel remains the armed forces’ most acute bottleneck," the report said.

By the end of 2025, the number of active soldiers was up 3,000 from the previous year but demographic trends, competition for skilled labour and high dropout rates were limiting grown.

"Political ambition risks outpacing military reality," said the report. "If voluntary service is not sufficient, the next step would be a return to compulsory military service."