The number of young men applying to be conscientious objectors and refuse armed military service in Germany has risen sharply this year, undermining a drive by Berlin to create Europe’s strongest conventional army and deter the Russian threat.
More people had applied to exclude themselves from service on religious or moral grounds in the first half of 2026 than in the whole of last year, according to figures provided by the government on Tuesday.
For the period to 30 June, the federal office of family affairs and civil society functions, which rules on such requests, received 5,862 applications, a spokesperson said, confirming a report by the RND media group.
This compared with 3,879 applications in the whole of 2025 and 2,249 in 2024. The federal office had previously reported that 2,667 of the requests were granted this year as of the end of May. Last year 2,830 were approved.
Germany’s constitution guarantees the right of conscientious objection, stating: “No one shall be compelled against their conscience to perform military service involving the use of arms.”
The move to apply for objector status is pre-emptive, since Germany has no active draft. Instead, in an attempt to revamp the country’s depleted military, the government this year required all German men from the age of 18 to complete a form indicating their readiness to serve and undergo a medical examination.
Women are being encouraged to volunteer to serve in the military but are not obliged to participate in the selection process under the plan, which was introduced by the popular defence minister, Boris Pistorius of the Social Democrats.
The co-ruling conservative Christian Union parties (CDU/CSU) said if Pistorius failed to make sufficient progress towards a goal of having 260,000 active volunteer soldiers by 2035, conscription – suspended since 2011 – could be resumed. Such a step would require further legislation.
In 2011, 4,348 people applied for conscientious objector status.
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The rise this year was seen as having been triggered by the new “conscription lite” policy that went into effect on 1 January, as well as concerns about potential military involvement in security hotspots such as the strait of Hormuz and a peacekeeping operation in postwar Ukraine.
Germany, which like many western countries dramatically slashed its military after the cold war, has about 186,000 active soldiers and severe capability gaps that Berlin is scrambling to address.
Mounting geopolitical instability, the threat from Russia since its full-scale invasion of Ukraine and pressure from Donald Trump have nudged Germany to abandon its postwar pacifism in favour of a stronger military footing.
Friedrich Merz, the chancellor, took office last year pledging to turn Germany’s armed forces, or Bundeswehr, into “Europe’s strongest conventional army”.
Applicants for conscientious objector status are required to submit to the Bundeswehr a short letter of intent with a personal signature, a CV and a personal statement setting out their reasons for refusing armed service.
While the rise in applicants made headlines in Germany, the number of people seeking to reverse their previously granted conscientious objector status is reportedly increasing as well.
The Neue Osnabrücker newspaper reported in April that 233 people had opted to waive their recognised right to refuse service in the first quarter of 2026, after 781 did so in the whole of 2025.
Those granted conscientious objector status could be called up for civilian duties in a security emergency.
Polls indicate support in Germany for rearmament and replenishing the military’s ranks. However, thousands of young people have staged nationwide protests and “school strikes” against the policy this year, saying the government is trying to turn them into “cannon fodder”.