Thousands ofGermanteenagers skipped school Thursday to join protests against a stepped-up military recruitment drive that many fear may in future involve a form of conscription.
About 3,000 students gathered on Berlin’s Potsdamer Platz square, with smaller demonstrations held across Germany as part of a nationwide “school strike”.
“I don’t see why anyone should have to go to the front lines for politicians,” Alex Krzeszka, a 15-year-old student, told AFP at the Berlin rally.
“I don’t see it as morally right, and I think war should never be the solution. Problems should be solved diplomatically.”
Germany, like other European countries, has sought to build up its armed forces in response to Russia’s 2022 full-scale invasion of Ukraine and the threat of further aggression against NATO members.
ChancellorFriedrich Merzhas vowed to turn the Bundeswehr into Europe’s largest conventional army, banking initially on a voluntary recruitment drive.
The government this year started requiring all 18-year-old men to fill out questionnaires about their interest and fitness for short-term military service.
Women are also being asked to fill out the forms, but cannot be compelled to do so under current German law.
Among the signs being waved by protesters in Berlin was a poster that read “We are not cannon fodder” while another demanded: “Send Friedrich Merz to the front line!”
For now at least, German lawmakers have decided against bringing back mandatory conscription, which Germany suspended in 2011.
Source: Insider Paper
