Overview
- Boris Pistorius called the travel-permission provision a drafting error and said it should never have been in the law.
- The now-neutralized clause had said men aged 17 to 45 must seek Bundeswehr approval for foreign stays longer than three months.
- The Defence Ministry first planned to treat permission as granted while service remains voluntary, then issued a general exception and an administrative decree to remove the rule’s effect.
- The Wehrdienst-Modernisierungsgesetz took effect on January 1 and makes medical screening mandatory for young men from the 2008 cohort, with women screened on a voluntary basis.
- The reform seeks to expand the active force from about 180,000 to 260,000 troops and build a reserve of roughly 200,000 drawn from those who complete the new service.