Conscription

If you want peace, prepare for war. French President Emmanuel Macron appears to be the latest European leader embracing that ancient maxim, launching a new national military service plan Thursday as France seeks to address shortfalls in its armed forces amidst growing concerns over Russia’s geographical ambitions beyond the war in Ukraine.

Germany launched a drive to attract more people into voluntary military service as the country scrambles to strengthen its armed forces.

Hungarian govt summoned the Ukrainian ambassador over the alleged killing of a Hungarian citizen in Ukraine for refusing military service.

Women now conscripted into Danish armed forces on an equal business, all having to enrol in the national service lottery after they turn 18.

The outcome of the German Federal elections this week will likely determine whether conscription will return to the country as the government finds itself thousands of soldiers short of what it thinks it needs.

Ukraine’s Defense Ministry is offering new financial and other benefits that it hopes will attract men between ages 18 and 24 to military service, as its short-handed armed forces toil on the front line against Russia’s bigger army in the almost three-year war.

Senior military officer who had the power to rule on whether conscripts were for for service has been arrested over unexplained wealth.

Ukrainian military recruitment officers raided restaurants, bars and a concert hall in Kyiv, checking military registration documents and detaining men who were not in compliance, local media reported Saturday.

Ukrainian recruiters are reportedly roaming the streets of the country in a desperate effort to bolster the ranks of the military as the war with Russia continues to sap the native population.

Reports published in the past week indicate that Ukraine is struggling to conscript enough soldiers to replace its staggering battlefield losses against Russia. The Russians have taken horrific casualties as well, but their vastly larger population could be the key to eventually winning a war of attrition.

Croatia will reintroduce a two-month compulsory military service starting January 1 next year, the country’s Defense Minister said.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi reportedly convinced Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop using hoodwinked Indian nationals as cannon fodder for his brutal invasion of Ukraine, the feat occurring at a private dinner the two attended Monday night.

Rishi Sunak proposes a Chinese social credit system for the UK, where access to modern life basics like a car or banking could be withdrawn.

The United States government warned that dual citizens of Ukraine and the U.S. who are within the age of conscription may face the possibility of being stuck in the country.

Germany has reportedly scrapped plans to reintroduce military conscription to fill the depleted ranks of the Bundeswehr.

Dozens of Ukrainians attempting to escape being forced into the military have died, the national border guard reveals.

The Russian bordering Nordic nation of Norway announced the most significant change in its defence in modern times.

Russia needs a stronger deterrence to stop its aggressive moves on mainland Europe and a UK reintroduction of conscription would go some way to foiling Moscow’s predatory ambitions, Estonia Prime Minister Kaja Kallas said Thursday.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a bill to lower the conscription age to 25 in a bid to expand the ranks of his military.

Norway has become the latest European state to look again at its conscription programme, pushed by Russian aggression against Ukraine.

The UK should reinstitute military conscription of British citizens to act as a deterrent against Russia, a NATO ally has urged.

Denmark is more than doubling the period of mandatory service, calling up more young people, and requiring women to enrol for the first time.

Less than 40 per cent of Germans said they would be unwilling to defend their nation with weapons even if it came under attack, a survey has found.

Germany’s newspaper of record postulates whether Ukrainian men of military age should be encouraged or forced to go home.

To replenish its ranks, the Ukrainian government is struggling to find a balance between coercion and persuasion.

Govt strongly denies they are considering conscription even as military discusses how the Army is learning from “mission rehearsal” Ukraine.

Army must prepared to “rapidly expand” to field a “citizen army”, top general says, praising Euro states for bringing back conscription.

A proposal to let foreign citizens serve in the German army is under consideration by Berlin. If approved, it will allow the Bundeswehr to build strength on the back of a recent announcement that conscription could return as the prospect of a grand “European army” looms on the horizon.

More than half of Germans of all ages – with one key cohort excepted – want to restore compulsory military service, a survey released Thursday reveals, as war on the European continent between Russia and Ukraine drags on into another year.

The British Army is now the smallest it has been in 200 years while in Germany the defence minister speaks of bringing back conscription.

President Zelensky reportedly told U.S. lawmakers that he is considering raising the military conscription age to over 40 years old.

Huge numbers of young Ukrainian men have fled the country to avoid being drafted in the army to fight Russia, a report states.

Explicit recruitment ad targeting women for the Ukrainian Army is Russian propaganda and not an official video, Kyiv have said in a statement. 

Scores of protesters gathered on the streets of Ukrainian cities on Friday to demand a cap of 18 months on mandatory military service.

Russian President Vladimir Putin boasted on Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of volunteers are rushing to join the Russian military and fight in Ukraine.

Russia has legally increased the age for military conscription to 30 years old in a bid to bolster its ranks amid the ongoing war in Ukraine.