Since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, the conversation around European security shifted dramatically. Large-scale war returned to European soil.
Aside from Western support for Ukraine, Germany’s own military has come back into the country’s focus – reigniting debate over the state of the Bundeswehr.
One topic that has resurfaced in recent months is the debate around reintroducing compulsory military service. In 2011, then-CSU Defence Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg suspended conscription, citing cost concerns.
Although conscription is not set to be reinstated immediately under the new coalition agreement between the CDU/CSU and the SPD, the shortage of personnel in the armed forces remains a pressing issue.
Several weeks ago, 31-year-old soldier and content creator David Matei appeared on German talk-show panel Hart aber Fair. He acknowledged that the Bundeswehr has its flaws, challenges and problems “that we need to tackle,” but added, “for me, Germany is one of the most successful democracies of our time. Germany is worth it!”
Matei is not only an active-duty soldier, he’s also an influencer. His goal is to bring security policy closer to Gen Z.
Euronews spoke with the 31-year-old about his career and the ability of social media to help bridge the gap between young people and the Bundeswehr.
Euronews: We are about the same age, I had no connection to the Bundeswehr when I was young. How did you decide to join the army when you were 18?
David Matei: There are photos of me from fourth grade where I’m dressed head-to-toe in camouflage: camouflage Converse, a green rucksack, hydrogen-blonde hair, and holding a softair pistol while giving a military salute. Back then, it was just cool to run around the woods with the boys, playing and pretending to be soldiers. That phase faded once I hit puberty.
I never had a personal or family connection to the Bundeswehr. My dad had to do military service in Romania because of the Warsaw Pact. He often spoke about that time – about the harassment he endured, like scrubbing the floor with a toothbrush, the kind of classic humiliations we know from films or stories. Those accounts left me with a negative impression of military service.
When I turned 18, I didn’t even really know what compulsory military service was. Then a letter from the Bundeswehr arrived. Suddenly, I had to confront the topic for the first time.
I felt the same way as all the boys sitting with me in the back row of the classroom. We’d all received this letter, and agreed on one thing: we wanted to decide for ourselves what to do after school. We didn’t want anyone telling us what path to take. It was this very basic instinct, the moment you’re forced to do something, you instantly don’t want to do it. I see that feeling in a lot of young people today – and I really get it.
The other guys already knew what they wanted to do after their high school examinations. I didn’t. So I took another look at the Bundeswehr flyer. I had rejected it outright before, even called them up and said: “I can’t, I’ve got an ingrown toenail, I don’t want to, it’s just not for me!”
But there it was again, the flyer. And honestly? The first thing that caught my eye was the salary. The second was this vague sense of adventure, doing something different, getting out, leaving home. So I called the district recruitment office again and said: “Hey, my toenail’s growing straight again. Got any use for me after all?”
Next thing I knew, I was off to the medical assessment. I wanted to join the mountain troops. But that wasn’t so easy, I had to cheat my way in a bit. Back then, I was skinny and an emo: long, jet-black dyed hair, straightened every day with a €20 flat iron, ten kilos of hairspray and eyeliner.
Midway through the medical exam, I ran to the toilet in just my underwear, hung myself over the sink and drank so much water I got a stomach ache. Then I rushed back to the army doctor and onto the scale. She looked at me and said: “Sorry, still half a kilo too light.”
I asked her: “Can’t we work something out? Isn’t there an exception?” She told me I’d have to promise to eat properly and exercise. In the end, I was classified as T2, not the top fitness level (that would’ve been T1), but good enough.
I ended up getting a place with the mountain troops and signed up for nine months. Of course, my low weight didn’t go unnoticed. I was surrounded by big, strong soldiers and, just like in a cliché Hollywood movie, I was the one struggling to keep up at the back of the formation. The beginning was really tough. But at some point, I had my little “glow-up”, and it actually started to be fun.
Alongside our mountain infantry training, we had a lot of political and ethical education during basic training. We spent a lot of time studying the soldier’s oath, our loyalty to the Federal Republic of Germany and the duty to bravely defend the rights and freedom of the German people.
Of course, the training in the mountains was intense and exciting, but what gave it real meaning for me was knowing it served a higher purpose: for our country and for our free and democratic constitutional order.
In the end, that’s what made me decide to extend my service to 15 years. I always say: I came for the money, but stayed for the free and democratic basic order.
Euronews: Before the Russian attack on Ukraine, I think many young people had a negative image of the Bundeswehr. How did your friends and family react when you signed up for 15 years?
David: At first, people around me barely took notice. When word got out in the final weeks of school that I was joining the Bundeswehr, and not just that, but the mountain troops, most people couldn’t believe it. They’d say things like: “You won’t last three days. Only elite soldiers make it into the mountain troops! What are you doing there with your long black hair and skinny jeans?”
My head of year even said in front of the whole class that I’d be running home to my mum crying after three days. That really stuck with me. Later, when I was on the verge of giving up during basic training, I kept thinking back to that moment. It pushed me to keep going.
In terms of how soldiers are perceived, I remember being treated more positively in the US as a German soldier than I ever was back home. When I was 18 or 21 and visiting the States, people would come up to me in bars and say: “Thanks for your service.”
During one deployment, we were walking through Times Square in New York City in uniform and people kept stopping us to say thank you – even police officers wanted to take pictures with us.
That left an impression. Of course, I sometimes wish there was that kind of appreciation here in Germany too. At the same time, I think it’s good that people in a democracy like Germany are critical of the armed forces. That’s why we have things like the parliamentary reservation and the Parliamentary Commissioner for the Armed Forces. But a lot has changed – especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion.
The current Parliamentary Commissioner summed it up well in her latest report: “We’ve gone from a ‘friendly disinterest’ to an ‘interested friendliness’.”
I notice that in everyday life, too. I used to think “Oh no” whenever someone honked at me while I was in uniform. Now, it’s often a thumbs-up, a smile, a nod. Just recently, someone even knocked on my car window at a red light to thank me for my service. I was a bit confused at first, but honestly – it was just nice.
Older people often say: “I was a soldier too”, and then tell stories about their own time in the army, about the Cold War. With younger people, I sense real curiosity, probably because they no longer have any personal connection to the Bundeswehr. Most of them don’t know anyone in the military. They ask: “Wait, you’re in the Bundeswehr? That’s wild. What do you actually do all day?”
The older generation usually talks about themselves. The younger ones ask questions. That’s why I create content, to help bridge that gap.
Euronews: As a soldier, have you ever thought about leaving the Bundeswehr and going to Ukraine? There is the Foreign Legion and many foreign soldiers have also joined Ukrainian units since 2022.
David: As an active soldier in the Bundeswehr, fighting for another army is simply not an option for me – I’ve never really considered it.
I do talk to Ukrainian soldiers a lot, though. Just two weeks ago, I was invited to participate in a project with the British Ministry of Defence as a content creator. I had the opportunity to see how Ukrainian recruits are being trained outside of Ukraine as part of Operation Interflex. This is the largest training mission for Ukrainians since 2022, and so far, over 50,000 soldiers have been trained.
I had a long conversation with a 25-year-old Ukrainian soldier there about his experiences, whether he was here voluntarily, and how he was coping with the whole situation. He had only received 50 days of training before being sent to the frontline.
It was incredibly emotional for me. Just the thought that he could be deployed next week in an emergency, and that he might not make it out alive, was deeply unsettling.
As someone who trained as an officer for seven years, it’s a stark contrast. This young man, who previously worked as a computer scientist, will be trained as a soldier in just a few weeks, and then expected to fight. How does he feel? And what does that mean for me – as a soldier who has never been to war? Does that make me less valuable as a soldier?
And then, of course, it brings me back to what our defence minister, Boris Pistorius, said: the Bundeswehr should be prepared for war so that it never has to go to war. The idea of deterrence.
Even if I’m never deployed, my very existence as a soldier contributes to deterrence and, in that sense, perhaps helps prevent war.
Euronews: If you were 18 again today, would you decide in favour of the Bundeswehr again in the current security situation?
David: I would choose the Bundeswehr again in a heartbeat. Perhaps I would choose a different path in the armed forces today, as I only truly learned about the Bundeswehr once I was already in it. But what really concerns me is the issue of drones.
The videos showing drones deliberately targeting young soldiers in Ukraine and exploding at waist height are deeply shocking. As an infantry officer, I would be right there in an emergency – exposed. These images are unsettling. They scare me.
If I had the choice again, I’d probably have joined the air force, though. Becoming a pilot, especially in a fighter jet, would have been a very appealing option for me in another life.
Euronews: A few weeks ago, you were on “Hart aber Fair”, a talk show on German TV, where you talked about the issue of compulsory military service. What kind of reactions did you perceive?
David: The reactions have been very polarising, with both positive and negative feedback.
I’ve been called all sorts of things, insulted from both sides – labelled a Nazi or a warmonger. I really get all kinds of reactions, from being called a “Putin boy” to a warmonger.
I take it all in my stride, and to me, it’s a sign that if I’m criticised from both sides, I’ve achieved exactly what I set out to do: speak neutrally and controversially about these topics. It’s not my aim to push my own opinion, but to educate people about security policy.
We all look the same in uniform, but behind that uniform is a person with their own personality. That was always the exciting thing about the Bundeswehr for me. I come from a small village, grew up in a sheltered environment, went to grammar school, and then joined the Bundeswehr.
I met so many different people there – tradespeople, academics, people I’d never encountered before. The Armed Forces showed me how diverse people can be, even when they wear the same uniform.
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