The new military service law requires all men under 45 to seek approval from the Bundeswehr to leave the country for longer than three months. It also obliges the military career center to issue it.
While the law requires men to request the permit, the [army] spokesperson clarified, it also obliges the military career center to issue it, if "no specific military service is expected during the period in question.”
"Since military service under current law is based exclusively on voluntary participation, such permissions must generally be granted,” the official added. (…)
When asked, the ministry spokesperson pointed out that "the regulation was already in place during the Cold War and had no practical relevance; in particular, there are no penalties for violating it.”
Yeah I was just on a german thread and people kept talking about this as if it was actually penalized. People really need to read more beyond the headline so thank you for putting this there
Yeah I was just on a german thread and people kept talking about this as if it was actually penalized. People really need to read more beyond the headline so thank you for putting this there