The chairman of the Defence Committee in the Bundestag, Thomas Röwekamp (CDU), has called for making reservists mandatory to participate in military exercises and involving their employers in this obligation. Speaking to “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland” on Thursday, he stated, “In our current security situation, we cannot afford a reserve force that operates only on a voluntary basis. If we genuinely want to strengthen the Bundeswehr, we need more reliability and commitment”.
Röwekamp criticized the current system where reservists and their employers must alike give their consent for a military exercise. He argued that “the double voluntary principle leads today to a situation where we cannot plan securely in critical moments. Our reserve must be quickly available and operationally ready in an emergency, and for that, clear obligations are necessary”. While acknowledging that “the interests of the employers must be kept in mind” the CDU politician concluded that “a functional national and alliance defence is in the interest of our entire society, and thus also the economy”.
Patrick Sensburg, president of the Reservists’ Association, added that improved termination protection must be a precondition for such changes. Telling the newspapers that “the demand to abolish the double voluntary principle is correct and good, but it must not come at a disadvantage to those who have served in the armed forces. Nor can it lead to employers no longer hiring reservists or being able to dismiss them”. Sensburg insisted that “the abolition must be accompanied by significantly improved termination protection, so that reservists cannot be dismissed even in the long term. Otherwise, they will be the first to be let go in an emergency”.
The Bundeswehr is expected to grow to at least 260,000 active soldiers and 200,000 reservists by 2035. Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (SPD) had announced a reserve strengthening law for this summer, and by April, he plans to present a “Reserve Strategy”.
