• German Green Party lawmaker Janosch Dahmen has registered as a reservist with the German military due to the new security situation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.
• The Green Party, known for its pacifist stance, has shifted its position on defense policy in response to the war in Ukraine, supporting a major increase in German defense spending.
• Dahmen is advocating for a new approach to the Bundeswehr within the Green Party, which recently agreed to mandatory examinations for men to determine their fitness for military service.

German Green Party lawmaker Janosch Dahmen, a former conscientious objector, has registered as a reservist with the German military, reflecting a growing consciousness within society of the threat posed by Russia.

In an interview with Der Spiegel magazine published on Saturday, the 44-year-old justified his decision by citing the new security situation following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022.

"My conviction was, and remains, that I do not want to kill anyone. Yet I must recognize that the times and circumstances in which I must take responsibility for this decision of conscience have changed," Dahmen said. "It cannot be left solely to others to defend our country – which is worth protecting – and our free, liberal society when it is under attack from its enemies."

Dahmen's party emerged in the 1980s during the Cold War in the context of anti-nuclear energy, peace and environmental movements.

Over the past four years, the Greens' dedicated pacifist stance has undergone a remarkable change due to the war in Ukraine.

The party was part of the governing coalition in power at the time Russia launched its full-scale invasion, backing a major increase to German defence spending that marked a massive shift for a country whose defence policy had been marked by restraint following World War II.

Dahmen told Der Spiegel that he was pushing for a new approach to the Bundeswehr, Germany's military, within the party.

In November, the Greens agreed at a national party conference to make it compulsory for all men to undergo an examination to determine whether they would be fit for military service.

However, the party fell short of supporting compulsory military service.