Recruits attend a combat exercise with the G36 assault rifle at the Westfalen-Kaserne barracks of the German armed forces (Bundeswehr) in Ahlen, western Germany, on November 13. Ina Fassbender/AFP/Getty Images

Germany’s Bundestag voted for a bill on Friday that allows the country to move towards conscription, as tensions with Russia spur calls for Europe to gain more independence from the US security umbrella.

The controversial bill passed with a relatively solid majority in the end, with 323 lawmakers voting yes, 272 voting no and one abstaining.

The move seeks to boost the numbers in Germany’s armed forces to 260,000 soldiers, up from the current 180,000, in addition to an extra 200,000 reservists, by 2035.

The bill does not provide for mandatory conscription. Instead, it incent

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