"Germany’s new center-right chancellor, Friedrich Merz, has vowed to transform the country’s armed forces into Europe’s strongest to counter the rising threat from Russia. With the help of the opposition Greens, the ruling coalition abandoned strict borrowing limits on defense spending earlier this year to allow for unprecedented military procurement. To further bolster the military, Defense Minister Boris Pistorius said in June that Germany will need to increase its armed forces by as many as 60,000 active soldiers, or by roughly a third. The government hopes that a new voluntary military service initiative set to go into effect in 2026 will help."