National Veterans Day: Much "recognition and respect"

"The Bundeswehr is an integral part of our society. The women and men who serve or have served in it deserve our thanks, our recognition, and our respect. This service to our country belongs at the heart of our society," wrote Chancellor Friedrich Merz on the first National Veterans Day on the online platform X.

Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius explained that the June 15th anniversary was about honoring those "who, ultimately, are prepared to give their utmost for others and who risk their lives and bodies for our country." Germany already has a strong army that deserves respect. Given a threat situation that has intensified in recent years, the demands on soldiers will increase even further in the future.

"Thinking" about conscription

Bundestag President Julia Klöckner called Veterans Day a "promise to improve the care and support of veterans": "Because service as a soldier does not end with taking off the uniform. In addition to fulfilling meaning, it can also bring lifelong psychological and physical repercussions."

Regarding service in the Bundeswehr, Klöckner told the "RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland" (RND): "To be taken seriously as an alliance partner, we need a different troop strength." This could either be achieved on a voluntary basis, or conscription would have to be reconsidered. "Personally, I am a fan of universal conscription, which also encompasses other areas of social life."

A broad societal debate about compulsory military service is "overdue – for women and men, in both military and civilian areas," said Thomas Röwekamp, ​​Chairman of the Bundestag's Defense Committee. "We are facing the most challenging security situation in decades. The defense capability of our country and the resilience of our society are once again coming into focus," Röwekamp told the Funke Media Group newspapers.

Attention "unfortunately very narrow"

The opposition Left Party criticized that on Veterans Day, attention is "unfortunately very narrowed to members of the Bundeswehr. No one thinks about all the local personnel who are injured while supporting the Bundeswehr!" Furthermore, Left Party defense politician Donata Vogtschmidt criticized that June 15th "doesn't change the fact that veterans are often completely abandoned beyond this day." The federal government and the Bundeswehr must ensure better support in this regard.

The association "German Peace Society - United War Resisters" (DFG-VK) called for the immediate abolition of Veterans Day: "Instead of celebrating soldiers whose job it is to kill people in an emergency, we should celebrate civilian helpers like nurses or disaster relief workers who save lives," its political director, Michael Schulze von Glaßer, told the RND. Veterans Day is "pure militarism."

Henning Otte, the new Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces of the Bundestag, responded: "You are cordially invited (...) to learn what this is all about in direct contact with the soldiers. The freedom of peace activists is ultimately also protected by the Bundeswehr."

wa/haz (dpa, afp, epd, X)