In the context of the Russian attack on Ukraine and the growing threats facing Germany, an increasing number of people are withdrawing their applications for conscientious objection. This trend was reported by a spokeswoman from the Federal Office for Family and Civil Society Tasks (BAFzA) to the news network “Redaktionsnetzwerk Deutschland.”
According to the BAFzA, 570 withdrawal declarations were received by the Cologne authority in the first eight months of this year. If this trend continues for the entire year, the estimate suggests a total of 855 withdrawals, which is substantially higher than the 781 applications withdrawn in the previous year. Furthermore, the federal office recorded 536 withdrawal declarations in 2023, followed by 626 in 2024.
The spokeswoman clarified that withdrawing an application is a straightforward formal process, requiring only a simple, signed declaration to be sent to the BAFzA. She emphasized that should an individual withdraw their objection or formally declare their withdrawal, they are legally no longer considered a conscientious objector. Consequently, in the event that military conscription is reactivated or a defense/tension scenario arises, they are subject once again to unconditional military service.
Earlier, the BAFzA had reported that the initial number of applications for conscientious objection was also rising, though on a much larger scale. By the end of August, a total of 12,102 such applications had been filed. This number is more than three times greater than the 3,879 applications reported in the entirety of 2025.
