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German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

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Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you, I suspect the _de in your username means you are German or German-speaking? A friend from the US sent the link to this thread to me, asking about it. The source website has no ability to be switched to English language, so all information my friend got was from the headline, which without context was misleading for him. If it was clear people wouldn’t ask German-speaking friends to explain this to them, do…

I get your point, I'm not agreeing ... anyway, there are plenty of tools available to translate text from German to English.

That’s fine. I don’t want to get into a discussion about how important the accuracy of translation is with topics like law, civil rights, military, etc.

I trust humans. I don’t trust machines. You do you.

Thank you for the exchange and pointing out my inaccuracy. I will try to do better next time.

Have a good day and enjoy your Easter holidays if you’re Christian.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#42
post #4

That seems more “oh we fucked up and didn’t realize our changes to the law imply this” than “Germany forces men to request permission to leave”.

It is very likely this was done intentionally. Maybe not all people involved in making this law noticed it, but the person working on article 2 did this intentionally. They explicitly list that this article is always active now:

> (3) Außerhalb des Spannungs- oder Verteidigungsfalls gelten die §§ 3, 8a bis 20b, 25, 32 bis 35, 44 und 45.

https://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/wehrpflg/__2.html

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#43

This headline is kind of misleading. First of all, there is no process yet for exactly requesting permission, secondly, the army already said they will not enforce the rule unless the Parliament declares combat readiness is necessary, and lastly, there is no punishment for not asking permission at this point in time. And to be completely honest, if more people made use of registering for the damn ELEFAND emergency co…

> First of all, there is no process yet for exactly requesting permission, secondly, the army already said they will not enforce the rule unless the Parliament declares combat readiness is necessary, and lastly, there is no punishment for not asking permission at this point in time.

Previously this article 3 was only active in the "Spannungs- oder Verteidigungsfall" which the Parliament has to declare. The law was extended with: "Außerhalb des Spannungs- oder Verteidigungsfalls gelten die §§ 3, 8a bis 20b, 25, 32 bis 35, 44 und 45." so this article is always active now.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> And while I wouldn't necessarily call it draconian because after all somebody has to defend my country The ends don't justify the means. Conscription has no place in the free world. It's slavery, plain and simple. Going into the military should be an appealing career choice. Our soldiers are supposed to be highly skilled professionals, not cannon fodder in large quantities.

So, if some other country with different value system attacks your homeland with intention to effectively colonize it then you'd be okay with just letting it happen?

No. I support a strong, volunteer military force of highly trained professionals (AVF). For example, how the US Army works today.

It's not only moral and compatible with human rights in the free world, it's also far more effective.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#45

Being 46 (and quite an active 46 year old, just finished a Skitour), am curious why the cutoff for these things tends to be 45?

I'm pretty sure it's politics. The reason is a potential draft, but it is also very potential for now and may never happen. So this message signalizes to the older and/or richer population two messages - "you will be protected by the mobilized army in the worst case" and "you personally will be exempt from the need to sit in a freezing trench for multiple years" (which is not true in reality, if the draft will be needed, higher age will be increased to 60 most likely). So the older and conservative population is appeased this way.

CDU are losing popularity if we are to believe press, so that is one of the populist ways to boost some numbers for elections.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#46
post #24

Being 46 (and quite an active 46 year old, just finished a Skitour), am curious why the cutoff for these things tends to be 45?

Let's see ... On December 5, 2025 the German parliament passed a law requiring all men between 18 and 45 years to register "for military service", which everyone should fully understand to mean to register for conscription. Oh and they've added a very political clause: the government can activate conscription WITHOUT a parliament vote. So most political parties who have voted in favor of conscription want to be able…

The US has this too. All males register at 18.

But the US, for all its militarism, and all its military adventures, has not used the draft since Vietnam.

So I would say that Germany sees the need to be in a position where it can respond quickly if they need it. Well, given current events in their neighborhood, I can see their point. In fact, I would say that they are probably at least three years late in doing this.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#47
post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So, if some other country with different value system attacks your homeland with intention to effectively colonize it then you'd be okay with just letting it happen?

I believe it is up to the free individual to make that decision. I'm not saving the slave ship when I'm treated like one. ps: There are 8 billion people on this planet, and I've never had any serious issues with any of them, much less a reason to start a war. Governments are always the cause of everyone's misery. Beware of yours!

We now know for certain you don't live in Ukraine, nor any other country that has been invaded in your lifetime.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#49

Not all men, but all men over 17 and under the age of 45. This still seems draconian, though.

Drafts seem like an outdated pre-globalist concept. Die for the borders nobody respects anyway. You need to be nationalistic when it’s useful to your leaders that hate you. Of course just the natives need to die, all the immigrants won’t be doing that.

Re: German men 18-45 need military permit for extended stays abroad

#50
post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Let's see ... On December 5, 2025 the German parliament passed a law requiring all men between 18 and 45 years to register "for military service", which everyone should fully understand to mean to register for conscription. Oh and they've added a very political clause: the government can activate conscription WITHOUT a parliament vote. So most political parties who have voted in favor of conscription want to be able…

The US has this too. All males register at 18. But the US, for all its militarism, and all its military adventures, has not used the draft since Vietnam. So I would say that Germany sees the need to be in a position where it can respond quickly if they need it. Well, given current events in their neighborhood, I can see their point. In fact, I would say that they are probably at least three years late in doing this.

I mean, short term it's obvious what will happen. Europe's peace at all costs (or should I say: at NO cost) will fail and Russia will attack in a matter of years. Some states will be forced to defend and a number of European countries will respond as a coalition. Many other European states will refuse to help, a few very publicly. And obviously this coalition will either beat Russia back or at the very least stop Russia advancing much at all. So far the obvious part of the next few years.

Let's start with an easy one: Will Germany be ready (war is more than cheap bodies, after all, equipment, plans, ...)? No, they won't. They've never been ready before.

Will the US help? That was a given even just 1 year ago, but now is strongly in doubt.

What will Germany's reaction be to the European states that just don't help?

What will happen to world trade? The question is who will save it, because the historical answer was of course US.

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