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BERLIN: Germany’s leaders on Wednesday launched a drive to attract more people into voluntary military service as the country scrambles to strengthen its armed forces in the face of growing fears about Russian aggression, a project that some in the governing coalition say doesn’t go far enough.
Germany, a leading NATO and European Union member, has moved to modernize its long-neglected military since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. That year, it set up a 100 billion euro ($117 billion) special fund to modernize the Bundeswehr, much of which has been committed to procuring new equipment.
New Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s coalition this year pushed plans through parliament to enable higher defense spending by loosening strict rules on incurring debt. Merz has said repeatedly he wants the Bundeswehr to be “the strongest conventional army in Europe.”
Germany needs more recruits
The government is redoubling its efforts to attract more recruits, which the military struggled to do in recent years. Germany had some 181,000 active servicepeople at the end of last year. But the government says it needs to increase that in the long term to 260,000, plus some 200,000 reservists.
“The Bundeswehr must grow — the international security situation, above all Russia’s aggressive behavior, make this necessary,” Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said Wednesday. “We need not just well-equipped forces, we are going at full speed on that ... we also need a Bundeswehr that is strong in terms of personnel. Only then is deterrence toward Russia really credible.”
Pistorius spoke after Merz’s Cabinet approved his plan for a new military service system. It aims to draw sufficient recruits without reviving compulsory conscription for men, which was suspended in 2011, but leaves the door open for parliament to do so if not enough people volunteer.
The plan foresees more attractive pay and conditions for people who agree to join the military for short periods and what Pistorius describes as attractive training offers for those who join up for at least six months, as well as flexibility on how long people can serve.
Beginning next year, the government plans to send questionnaires to young men and women turning 18 about their willingness and ability to serve in the military. Starting in mid-2027, young men will be required to undergo medical examinations, though not to sign up for the military.
Some want easier return to compulsory service
The plan still needs parliamentary approval. It was authorized at a Cabinet meeting held for the first time in many years at the Defense Ministry. Before the decision, NATO’s supreme commander in Europe, US Gen. Alexus Grynkewich, briefed ministers on the security environment.
But there has been tension in the conservative Merz’s coalition with Pistorius’ center-left Social Democrats over whether the new system should foresee an automatic return to compulsory service if the military can’t draw enough volunteers.
Some conservatives pushed unsuccessfully for compulsory service. But Pistorius says the conditions aren’t in place at the moment as sufficient barracks and trainers aren’t currently available.
The plan allows for the government to move toward compulsory service “if, in the course of the next one, two or three years, we see that the target figures aren’t being reached,” Merz said. He added he was “confident, at least from today’s point of view, that in any case to begin with we will reach the figures we need.”
A senior conservative ally of the chancellor, Bavarian governor Markus Söder, told ARD television Sunday that Pistorius’ plan is “a first step in the right direction.”
“I don’t think we are going to manage with these appeals, by making the Bundeswehr a bit more attractive,” Söder said. “I think there won’t be a way past compulsory service. ... Some say (Russian President Vladimir) Putin could be in a position to challenge NATO in 2027, others in 2029 — why wait if we already know today at least that the danger is there?”
New ammunition factory
Later Wednesday, Pistorius joined Germany’s vice chancellor, NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte and others to inaugurate a new artillery ammunition factory built by defense company Rheinmetall at its Unterluess site in northern Germany, a project that underlines Europe’s efforts to ramp up its weapons production.
Rheinmetall aims to produce 350,000 artillery shells a year at the facility. The inauguration only 18 months after a groundbreaking ceremony is “a strong signal that we are increasing the reliability of our supplies here in Germany,” Pistorius said.
Rutte said that “we are being challenged” by Russia and China, “but Europe and America together are on course to turn the tide on defense production.”

RICHFIELD: Just hours after a shooter opened fire through the windows of a Catholic church in Minneapolis, killing two children and wounding 17 people, hundreds crowded inside a nearby school’s gym, clutching one another and wiping away tears during a vigil alongside Gov. Tim Walz and clergy members.
Speaking to a silent crowd crammed shoulder-to-shoulder Wednesday night, while hundreds more waited outside, Archbishop Bernard Hebda described the students trying to shield their classmates as the gunfire erupted.
“In the midst of that there was courage, there was bravery, but most especially there was love,” he said at the Academy of Holy Angels, about 2 miles (3.2 kilometers) south of the shooting, in the suburb of Richfield.
Armed with a rifle, shotgun and pistol, 23-year-old Robin Westman shot dozens of rounds Wednesday morning toward the children sitting in the pews during Mass at the Annunciation Catholic School, Minneapolis Police Chief Brian O’Hara said at news conferences. The shooter then died by suicide, he said.
The children who died were 8 and 10. Fourteen other kids and three octogenarian parishioners were wounded but expected to survive, the chief said.
Rev. Dennis Zehren, who was inside the church with the nearly 200 children, said they were almost to the end of the Responsorial Psalm, which speaks about light in the darkness. That’s when he heard someone yell, “Down down, everybody down,” and the gunshots started.
Fifth-grader Weston Halsne told reporters he ducked for the pews, covering his head, shielded by a friend who was lying on top of him. His friend was hit, he said.
“I was super scared for him, but I think now he’s OK,” the 10-year-old said.
Police investigate motive for the shooting
FBI Director Kash Patel said on X that the shooting is being investigated as an act of domestic terrorism and a hate crime targeting Catholics.
O’Hara said police hadn’t yet found any relationship between the shooter and the church, nor determined a motive for the bloodshed. The chief said, however, that investigators were examining a social media post that appeared to show the shooter at the scene.
O’Hara, who gave the wounded youngsters’ ages as 6 to 15, said a wooden plank was placed to barricade some of the side doors, and that authorities found a smoke bomb at the scene.
On a YouTube channel titled Robin W, the alleged shooter released at least two videos before the channel was taken down Wednesday. In one, the alleged shooter shows a cache of weapons and ammunition, some with such phrases as “kill Donald Trump” and “Where is your God?” written on them.
A second video shows the alleged shooter pointing to two outside windows in what appears to be a drawing of the church, and then stabbing it with a long knife.
Westman’s uncle, former Kentucky state lawmaker Bob Heleringer, said he did not know the accused shooter well and was confounded by the “unspeakable tragedy.”
The police chief said Westman did not have an extensive known criminal history and is believed to have acted alone.
Federal officials referred to Westman as transgender, and Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey decried hatred being directed at “our transgender community.” Westman’s gender identity wasn’t clear. In 2020, a judge approved a petition, signed by Westman’s mother, asking for a name change from Robert to Robin, saying the petitioner “identifies as a female and wants her name to reflect that identification.”
Police chief says officers rescued children who hid
The police chief said officers immediately responded to reports of the shooting, entered the church, rendered first aid and rescued some of the children.
Annunciation’s principal Matt DeBoer said teachers and children, too, responded heroically.
“Children were ducked down. Adults were protecting children. Older children were protecting younger children,” he said.
Vincent Francoual said his 11-year-old daughter, Chloe, survived the shooting by running downstairs to hide in a room with a table pressed against the door. But he still isn’t sure exactly how she escaped because she is struggling to communicate clearly about the traumatizing scene.
“She told us today that she thought she was going to die,” he said.
Walz lamented that children just starting the school year “were met with evil and horror and death.” He and President Donald Trump ordered flags to be lowered to half-staff on state and federal buildings, respectively, and the White House said the two men spoke. The governor was the Democratic vice presidential nominee in last year’s election against Trump’s running mate, now Vice President JD Vance, a Republican.
From the Vatican, Pope Leo XIV sent a telegram of condolences. The Chicago-born Leo, history’s first American pope, said he was praying for relatives of the dead.
Monday had been the first day of the school year at Annunciation, a 102-year-old school in a leafy residential and commercial neighborhood about 5 miles (8 kilometers) south of downtown Minneapolis.
Karin Cebulla, who said she had worked as a learning specialist at Annuciation and sent her two now-college-aged daughters there, described the school as an accepting, caring community.