Germany's new law for men of fighting age: Seek approval for stays abroad over three months

FRANKFURT - Germany's armed forces are working on clarifying a provision in a recently updated military service law that requires fighting-age men to gain permission to leave the country for more than three months, the defence ministry said.

The law went into effect in January, but the requirement - which theoretically affects millions of men between the ages of 17 and 45 in the European Union's most populous country - had gone mostly unnoticed until a local newspaper report highlighted it on Friday.

A defence ministry spokesperson stressed that military service in Germany is voluntary, adding that the ministry was "currently drafting specific regulations for granting exemptions from the requirement for approval, also to avoid unnecessary bureaucracy".

The controversial new military service law was passed last year to boost Bundeswehr numbers and meet NATO targets amid the growing view within Germany that it has relied too long on the United States and as tensions with Russia spur calls for stronger defence capabilities across Europe.

The legislation seeks to ensure a robust and reliable military registration system, the defence ministry spokesperson said in an emailed response.

"In the case of an emergency, we must know who may be residing abroad for an extended period," he said.

He declined to comment further on how the process may eventually look.

Germany wants to increase the ranks of active soldiers to 260,000 by 2035 from 183,000 at the end of last year, with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz telling military leaders last year that the country needed to become capable of defending itself as quickly as possible, and needed soldiers.

Opposition politicians over the weekend criticised the government for creating confusion with the law.

-Reporting by Tom Sims; Editing by Edwina Gibbs/Reuters