Is The Draft Returning To Europe?

Recruits in Poland's Territorial Defense Force go through weapons training south of Gdansk. (Kasia Strek/Panos Pictures for The Washington Post)  

Euronews: Which European countries are rethinking military service amid Ukraine war? 

“Any Frenchman is a soldier and owes himself to the defence of the nation,” declared the Jourdan Act of 1798, pioneering the concept of universal military service.

Almost two centuries later, French President Jacques Chirac finally did away with the levée en masse, replacing it with “Defence and Citizenship Day”, an away day for youths to learn about Republican values once a year. 

The end of national service in 1997 wasn’t universally popular in France. For some, it was an affront to history. For others, an admission of the country’s collapsing importance in world affairs. 

But the rest of Europe would follow suit. Across the continent, military service was on its last legs by the turn of the century.  

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Update: War prompts some European countries to boost military and civilian defenses (Turon Zamin/Washington Post).  

WNU Editor: The draft/conscription is returning to Europe. And while public support has been absent,  protests against conscription have been far and few between.

Urkaine And Pro-Russian Separatists Are Stepping Up Forced Conscription

 

The Guardian: ‘They hunt us like stray cats’: pro-Russia separatists step up forced conscription as losses mount 

Footage emerges of Ukrainian citizens in occupied Donbas being press-ganged to fight for Moscow Pro-Russia separatist forces have stepped up the forced conscription of men – including Ukrainian passport holders – in occupied areas of the Donbas region, amid mounting evidence of the scale of losses on the Russian side. 

According to credible evidence from the region, forced conscription – already a feature of the Russian-backed separatists’ rule before the Kremlin’s invasion on 24 February – appeared to have picked up again in June, with checkpoints and patrols, some reportedly involving Chechen fighters allied to the Kremlin, on the lookout for men to recruit. 

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WNU Editor: The press-gangs are just as tough in Ukraine .... Conscripts are being given call-up papers on the beaches of Ukraine as Volodymyr Zelensky's army suffers heavy losses (Daily Mail).

The Impact Of The Ukraine War On Russian Conscription

Contract soldiers undergoing medical examinations before shipping out from the Yegorshino regional assembly station in Russia’s Sverdlovsk region. June 26, 2022. Donat Sorokin / TASS  

Meduza: A history of forced conscription Russia's first military draft of 2022 ends soon. That could spell danger for recent college graduates. 

Russia’s first military draft of 2022 will end on July 15. Since it began on April 1, enlistment offices have largely avoided using Chechen War-era methods of rounding up draftees, but that doesn’t mean they haven't broken laws. Protecting young people from forced recruitment is becoming increasingly difficult; if an enlistment office is given instructions to send a specific person to the army, there’s effectively no way to prevent the person from having to serve. Meduza looks at how Russia’s most recent conscription has played out. 

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Update #1: Putin’s Problematic Conscription and Possible Ramifications (Connor L. Mitchell, small Wars Journal)  

Update #2: Parents of Russian Conscripts Fear Their Sons Will Be Pressured Into Joining The War In Ukraine (RFE)  

WNU Editor: During a time of war no one in Russia is immune from being forced to serve .... Flyers prospect Ivan Fedotov sent to Arctic after forced conscription into Russian military, reports say (Philly Voice).

Germany Considering Bringing Back Compulsory Military Conscription

© Thomas Peter / Reuters

DW: Germany mulls bringing back compulsory national service

Berlin has said it's considering changing its position on conscription. The country is mulling new strategies to deal with possible security threats.

Germany's interior ministry is considering taking steps toward bringing back conscription, including compulsory service to support the militar, which was suspended five years ago. This is according to a report by German news agency dpa, which had access to a confidential copy of a government draft proposal.

The proposal, which is set to be voted on in Berlin on Wednesday, comes as the government seeks to push forward a new concept for civilian defense, titled "Support of the Armed Forces."

Germany has been mulling new security strategies in light of recent terror attacks, as well as tensions over Russia's annexation of Crimea in 2014. The new proposals are meant in part to prepare the country for the possibility of NATO actions to defend its borders.

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More News On Germany Now Considering Proposals To Bring Back Compulsory Military Conscription

Germany considers return of conscription for civil defence -- BBC
Germany considers plan to bring back conscription -- The Telegraph
Germany mulls military conscription as part of civil defence plan -- Europe Online Magazine
German Citizens May Help Defend Borders Under New Civil Defense Strategy -- Sputnik
Germany may reintroduce conscription if defense of NATO borders needed – reports -- RT