German conservatives push for return to conscription amid row over military
by Deborah Cole from on (#70S56)
Parties blame each other after bill halted at last minute, as fears grow over voluntary service and lottery idea is vetoed
Germany's ruling coalition is locked in a furious row over how to plug severe manpower gaps in the country's military as it seeks to fulfil Nato obligations and prepare for the looming threat from Russia.
A scheme agreed by the governing parties over the summer under a plan laid out by the popular defence minister, Boris Pistorius of the Social Democrats (SPD), would have relied on voluntary recruitment to draw tens of thousands of young men to military service.
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