> Not helped by various European states deciding they want national service again all of a sudden

Their next-door neighbour is threatening war and their longtime ally has turned into an unreliable kook. It’s not all that surprising that countries are looking to bolster their defences.

> It’s not all that surprising that countries are looking to bolster their defences.

It's not bolstering defenses, it's bolstering expansion of the surveillance state panopticon because "think of the children!"