Due to the Russian threat: Germans aged 17 to 45 will need permission from the military to stay abroad for longer period

Under the new German military service law, men aged between 17 and 45 will have to "request permission to stay abroad for more than three months", the German Defense Ministry confirmed to DPA today after press reports.

The government of Chancellor Friedrich Merz passed a bill late last year to restore military service - initially on a voluntary basis - in order to increase the size of the Bundeswehr (German armed forces).

The law, which came into force on January 1st of this year, is a response to the threat posed by Russia, but Germany is still lagging behind in achieving its NATO recruitment targets.

The program aims to help increase the number of soldiers in the Bundeswehr from around 180,000 to 260,000, with the reserve force set to reach 200,000.

All teenagers will receive a questionnaire after they reach the age of majority as a first step to assess their suitability and motivation to serve in the Bundeswehr. Men will be required to complete the questionnaire, while women will do so voluntarily.

The "Frankfurter Rundschau" newspaper announced that men would need permission from the Bundeswehr for extended trips abroad.

A defense ministry spokesman confirmed the rule but said that "permission will be considered granted as long as the service is voluntary."

The military needs to know who is spending long periods abroad, the spokesman said, but he declined to say how many permits had been requested since the beginning of the year.

He stressed that the rule has been in place since the Cold War but has never been strictly enforced. While the implications of the rule are significant, permission to stay abroad is always granted if no specific service is required for the period in question, he added.