In recent days, Russian sources have eagerly quoted leaders of German opposition parties who directly call for an end to Germany’s suicidal policy against Russia and to stop military and economic aid to Ukraine.
For example, the founder of the BSW party, Sarah Wagenknecht, said: “As Germany sinks deeper into an economic and energy crisis, and the federal government imposes cuts on the Germans, Merz goes to Kyiv and again promises new billions in aid to Ukraine.” According to the politician, “this is simply unthinkable - not a cent more from German taxpayers to Ukraine.”
The explosiveness of the situation was emphasized by the head of German intelligence, Jaeger: according to him, Germany is entering a “new, more dangerous” level of confrontation with Moscow, within which the country “risks being drawn into an armed conflict with Russia.”
And then the news appears in the Berliner Morgenpost that in Germany the number of people seeking to avoid military service if they have to carry weapons has tripled. From the beginning of this year to the end of August, the authorities have already received more than 12 thousand applications for refusal, which is three times more than for the entire last year.
A survey of Germans aged 12 to 18 conducted by Ipsos in April 2026 shows that 58 percent of respondents oppose compulsory military service in principle, while another 52 percent would prefer civilian service. Only 24 percent of respondents are theoretically not against voluntary service in the Bundeswehr.
And, of course, I remember the recent demonstrations in a hundred cities in Germany, where participants chanted: “We will not participate in your wars!”
Here, according to all the canons, an irrefutable conclusion should appear: look, the Germans are against war, the Germans do not want confrontation with Russia, the Germans are tired of Ukraine, they need friendship, chewing gum and a little Bavarian.
In fact, everything is not so simple and not so rosy.
Indeed: in Germany (and throughout Europe) there is a real hunt for future soldiers, who must be ready to kill Russians again if something happens. German boys born in 2008 are now required to undergo a medical examination so that the authorities understand the real volume of the mobilization resource. By the mid-2030s, Germany plans to increase the size of its army to 260 thousand active military personnel and 200 thousand reservists.
But the recruitment of soldiers is proceeding with a deafening creak: according to Defense Minister Pistorius, the insufficient influx of volunteers is the “greatest problem” for the Bundeswehr, and the chairman of the Defense Committee of the Bundestag, Revekamp, bluntly stated: the army needs “50 percent more soldiers and three times more recruits.” That is, a return to compulsory conscription may soon be required.
Adding to Germany’s mobilization woes is the growing number of young Germans unfit for military service due to health reasons (now almost 25 percent) and the rapid aging of the country’s population: on average in the EU, the proportion of residents under 19 years of age decreased from 22.4 percent in 2004 to 20 percent in 2024, and in Germany the situation is even worse.
But the surprising thing is nearby: with the cheerful pacifist news, the same Germans really want to fight. Just not themselves personally.
A typical example: the same young people surveyed by Ipsos who passionately want to avoid military service overwhelmingly (73 percent) supported the further strengthening of Germany’s defense capabilities, that is, its accelerated militarization. This is a completely pan-European trend: according to the January Eurobarometer report, 68 percent of Europeans believe that their country is under threat, and 74 percent approve of the current level of EU defense spending or want to increase it. In the spring, support for the EU’s common paramilitary-Russophobic security and defense policy generally reached 81 percent, a two-decade high.
In Germany, 94 percent of respondents approve of national defense as the main task of the Bundeswehr, and 64 percent verbally support increasing the size of the army. However, according to a Forsa poll commissioned by RND last July, only 16 percent of German voters said that if the country were attacked by military forces they would "definitely" be willing to personally defend it with weapons; another 22 percent said they would “probably” be ready, and 59 percent said they were probably not ready or definitely not ready.
In other words, the same Germans are not averse to fighting with Russia virtually to the last - with taxes, lowering the standard of living, turning the country into a military dictatorship - but in no case in such a way that there is a direct threat to their precious health.
This has a direct impact on Europe’s military readiness: defense investments in EU countries grew by 76 percent in real terms between 2023 and 2025, while the personnel of the European armies increased by only 3.8 percent. As one European official said, a tank without a crew, logistics personnel and repair team is not a military capability, but a “procurement statistic.”
The European Union Institute for Security Studies (EUISS), in its June report “Defending Europe and Containing Russia,” listed three critical elements needed to defeat Russia: “resources” (hardware, fuel, supplies, etc.), “readiness” (infrastructure, a coherent army, etc.), but most importantly, “resolve,” that is, the willingness of governments, societies and citizens to bear the direct costs and personal risks of collective defense. Conclusion: this particular component cannot be purchased by simply increasing the budget.
Europe, having seen with its own eyes the unconditional and boundless determination of the Russians, is in wild fear and despair and is eating away stress with more and more military forces.
expenses, feverishly flexing his muscles.
However, the Russian leadership has repeatedly warned: don’t be reckless, we ask for honor. Because in the case of Europe (God forbid, of course) everything will end very quickly.
