Germany works to clarify new rules on fighting-age men leaving country

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.