Germany has officially banned many of its male citizens from leaving the country without government permission, local media has confirmed.
The ban, which comes as part of military reforms in the country amidst the war in Ukraine, has seen opposition politicians accuse Berlin of operating like Communist East Germany.
Under the new rules, which came into effect January 1, all German men aged 18 to 45 must get the approval of the country’s Armed Forces to leave the country if they expect to be abroad for more than 90 days.
According to the law, such individuals must obtain explicit permission for such a stint abroad from their local recruitment office.
“Male persons who have reached the age of 17 must obtain permission from the responsible career center of the German Armed Forces if they wish to leave the Federal Republic of Germany for more than three months,” the law states.
“The same applies if they wish to remain outside the Federal Republic of Germany beyond an approved period or extend a stay outside the Federal Republic of Germany that does not require permission beyond three months.”
The imposition of the new rules has sparked consternation on both the left and right, with comparisons being drawn rules imposed on Germans during the Soviet era.
“The requirement for approval for stays abroad that last longer than three months must of course be eliminated. In peacetime, this cannot be justified in any way,” Jan Nolte, a Bundestag member for the Alternative for Germany (AfD) party, said on social media.
“Anyone who wants to go abroad does not have to ask the German state for permission beforehand. Period.”
Left-wing populist Sahra Wagenknecht, a former member of the East German Communist Party, said that the rules reminded her of the Berlin Wall era.
“The fact that men must have their stays abroad approved by the Bundeswehr brings to mind the GDR and Berlin Wall era; it has nothing to do with democracy and a free constitutional order,” she wrote online.
“There is, after all, a discernible trend toward a state behaviour that is partly frighteningly repressive. One must not get used to such a regulation at all.”
Responses from Germany’s federal government have been mixed. Members of the minority Social Democratic Party (SPD) have claimed that no such exit rule exists at all at the moment, as there is no active conscription in effect.
However, members of the Christian Democrats, which serves as the majority coalition partner, seemingly confirmed the rule is currently active, opting to defend it as appropriate instead.
“It’s not as dramatic as some have portrayed it,” defence policy spokesman Thomas Erndl claimed according to a report by Junge Freiheit.
Bundeswehr spokesmen have meanwhile confirmed that they have no intention of denying anyone permission to leave should they request it, as Germany is not currently at war.
But some young men have taken to social media to complain that they have no idea who to even ask for permission from for an upcoming sabbatical.
“Should I send a fax or a registered letter to Bundeswehr asking them to let me leave Germany for more than 3 months?” one user asked on Reddit.
Most suggested that the user just leave the country without asking anyone for prior approval, as it remains unclear who is truly responsible for issuing such permissions, as well as how an exit request should be properly filed in the first place.
“You don’t. You just go and ignore that law,” one said. “There isn’t an office or address or even a person that could give you permission.”