Germany Makes Young Men Ask the Army Before Leaving

All German men between the ages of 17 and 45 must obtain permission from the Army Career Center if they wish to leave the country for more than three months, whatever the reason.

This is thanks to a new law, described even by the establishment press as a “far-reaching infringement on self-determination,” that was introduced at the beginning of the year.

Italian researcher Giulio Mattioli said it was “a masterclass in German Kafkaesque bureaucracy,” given the fact that “the *government says* that the permission will always be granted,” anyway. That is, at least as long as military service remains voluntary.

The measure is part of a wider plan to boost the size of the nation’s army. An actual conscription process is being introduced alongside it, although gradually.

AfD politician Götz Frömming noted the irony of the fact that while “young Germans will have to ask the Bundeswehr for permission if they want to leave our country for more than three months … young Syrians or Ukrainians can continue to come and go as they please.”

The Left Party has also responded critically, with Sören Pellmann, co-chair of the party’s parliamentary group, telling Frankfurter Rundschau: “Today the Bundeswehr controls and approves foreign travel for civilians, tomorrow it will forcibly put generations of men in uniforms and barracks.”

Noticing a mass of discomfort, the Ministry of Defense has itself accepted the “profound” impact of the law, and said it will work to “develop more specific regulations for granting exceptions to the approval requirement.” A spokesman added, however, that “a final outline of the process to be integrated is therefore not yet possible.”