155
Uproar in Germany over law requiring men get military approval for long stays abroad
(www.theguardian.com)
this post was submitted on 05 Apr 2026
155 points (97.0% liked)
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-- Frog in the pot
Except the provision in question was copy pasted from an old law where it existed for decades without any change.
I find the tendency on Lemmy to see a conspiracy in every law concerning.
Criticise the law for what it does (there is enough here for it) and be wary of potential abuse. But sometimes warm water is just warm water.
It existed for decades in times of war and tension.
It is something completely different that they want us to ask for permission in times of peace, which they changed this year.
Then what is the point of doing any of thi, oh other than tracking the citizens movements and to set the ball rolling on more draconian shit down the line
The government can and will change that law when they decide it is needed. Just because they are not enforcing it right now doesn’t mean they can’t find you guilty at a later date.
You should never need permission from the government to travel.
Seems like the law doesn't apply here not that it's not enforced. If war does come similar law will be passed ether way.
I'd agree with you though from philosophical pov - the government should never be allowed to contain you even if you're dodging the draft.
It's an extra hurdle to jump through, and it's sexist.
Also this isn't a new law but a remain of the cold war era.
Not quite, this particular paragraph was identical in the cold war era but the other paragraphs, mainly defining when it is in effect and when not, were changed. This made the law applicable since January 1st of this year. So previously this rule was only applicable during war or "conflicting times" and now it always is.
Thank you for the correction! I didn't know that.
In other words, meaningless paperwork just to keep the population disciplined. Germans 🙄.
Do you have a source that says the government has to grant your request? I tried scouring the law and it seems true but I struggle with the lingo.
Also the changes that were last made to the law seem to explicitly differentiate between war and none war situation as to which paragraphs are applied so they could have applied that paragraph only to situations of war. So I still think a Discussion and some scrutiny is warrented here as to why we "kept" this rule.