LONDON, United Kingdom (Kaab TV) – German men aged between 17 and 45 may need government approval before spending more than three months outside the country, under a sweeping new military modernisation law that took effect on 1 January.
The little-noticed requirement, buried within Germany’s Military Service Modernisation Act, went largely unreported until the Frankfurter Rundschau newspaper brought it to public attention on Friday — prompting swift clarification from Berlin.
A Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed to the BBC that males aged 17 and older must now obtain prior approval for extended stays abroad. Under the current framework, such approval must generally be granted, though it remains unclear how violations would be enforced.
The ministry said the regulation was designed to “ensure a reliable and meaningful military registration system”, adding: “In the event of an emergency, we must know who may be staying abroad for an extended period.”
Officials acknowledged the consequences for young people could be “far-reaching”, and said exemption regulations were being developed “in part to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy”.
A Cold War-Era Rule
The legal basis for the requirement dates back to Germany’s 1956 Conscription Act, which has been amended several times — most recently last December. Previously, the obligation to report extended stays abroad applied only if Germany was in a formal state of national defence or mobilisation.
The ministry noted that a similar provision “was in effect during the Cold War and had no practical relevance” at the time.
Its revival reflects a dramatically changed security landscape.
Germany, which hosts more than 1.3 million Ukrainian refugees — roughly one-third of all Ukrainians sheltering within the European Union — has been among the EU nations most directly affected by Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022.
Those concerns have been further sharpened by the Trump administration’s repeated suggestions that the United States could scale back its commitment to NATO.
The travel approval rule is one element of a broader effort to reverse decades of military decline.
The Military Service Modernisation Act sets out plans to grow Germany’s active personnel from around 180,000 to 260,000 by 2035 — rebuilding a force that numbered nearly half a million during the Cold War, before being run down through the peacetime years of the 1990s and the suspension of compulsory service in 2011 under then-Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Under the new law, all 18-year-olds are now sent a questionnaire asking whether they wish to join the armed forces.
From July 2027, they will also be required to complete a fitness assessment to determine their eligibility for service should a conflict arise.
Women may volunteer but cannot be conscripted under Germany’s constitution.
Chancellor Friedrich Merz has pledged to rebuild the Bundeswehr into Europe’s strongest conventional army, describing the current security environment as the most dangerous in a generation.
While service remains voluntary for now, officials have not ruled out compulsory conscription if too few recruits come forward or if the security situation deteriorates further.
The changes have not gone down well with all Germans.
When parliament approved the legislation, many young people took to the streets in protest.
“We don’t want to spend half a year of our lives locked up in barracks, being trained in drill and obedience and learning to kill,” one protest organiser wrote on social media — capturing a mood of resistance that the government will need to navigate as it presses ahead with its military ambitions.