"The end of the draft", headlines the Frankfurter Rundschau, following the German Ministry of Defence announcement regarding the "suspension" of universal military service, which "will no longer be compulsory". By 2011, the daily explains, "(Defence minister) Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg hopes to transform the army into an all-volunteer corps and reduce personnel by one third, from its current level of 250,000 soldiers to 163,500". The aim: an army that is "smaller, less costly and more efficient", according to the minister. The announcement has aroused some misgivings from members of the ruling coalition, and if it passes, it would be the greatest military reform since the Second World War. So while it will no longer be compulsory, chancellor Angela Merkel has, for the time being, decided that the provisions concerning military service will nonetheless remain in the Constitution.
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