00:00I sense all the clouds of sorrow. Right now there are large-scale student protests happening all
00:04across Germany, but the main reason for these protests is, quite clear, it's simply because
00:08they don't want to join the military. Starting with Berlin, in major German cities like Hamburg,
00:13Frankfurt, and Kiel, over a hundred rallies have been planned. In Hamburg, students took to the
00:17streets waving flags and holding banners that read, we will not participate in your war. As the
00:20war between Russia and Ukraine continues, the younger generation has directly expressed their
00:24opposition to the German government's move to significantly expand its military power.
00:27Since last year, the German government has been working on institutional reforms to increase
00:31the number of military personnel. In January of this year, a new law was implemented to expand
00:35the recruitment of volunteers, and currently, 18-year-old men in Germany are required to
00:39respond to a survey asking about their willingness to serve in the military. In the case of women,
00:42participation in the survey is voluntary. The controversy has grown over the issue of physical
00:46examinations. This is because even young people who answered that they had no intention of serving
00:50in the military received notices for physical examinations. In Kiel and Prenzlau in northern
00:54Germany, there have been reports of 18-year-olds who stated they did not wish to enlist still
00:58receiving notices for physical examinations. The German Ministry of Defense explains that this is
01:02a procedure according to current law. For men subject to conscription, who were born after December
01:0531, 2007, the obligation to undergo a physical examination applies regardless of their intention
01:10to serve in the military. Since last July, it has been reported that about 1,000 men who stated
01:14they had no intention of enlisting have also undergone physical examinations. The organizers of the
01:18protest are strongly opposing, saying that the government might be trying to gradually reintroduce the
01:21mandatory military service system. At a school strike against mandatory military service,
01:25one of the organizers, Bella Breitner, claimed that the federal government is seriously pushing
01:28for the reintroduction of mandatory service. Their opposition is also rooted in changes to Germany's
01:32defense policy. Friedrich Merz's government is pushing forward with plans to significantly
01:36strengthen the German Bundeswehr, considering Russia's security threats and the U.S. demand for
01:40increased European defense spending. Currently, the number of troops is about 186,700, and the plan is to
01:45increase this to 260,000 by the early 2030s, along with securing an additional 200,000 reservists.
01:49The problem is that the gap is widening between the government, which emphasizes the need to
01:53expand the military, and the younger generation, who do not want to serve. While the German government
01:57is pushing to expand the military due to changes in the security environment, young people are
02:01demanding the right to choose for themselves whether or not to serve. It remains to be seen how
02:05this protest will affect changes to Germany's military service system. However, it is clear that
02:09the debate within German society over expanding military power is now spreading to student protests in the streets.
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