Women in Denmark are to be conscripted for military service for the first time under a proposed armed forces overhaul that comes amid Europe’s worsening relations with Russia and the war in Ukraine.
“We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it,” said the prime minister, Mette Frederiksen.
The government, she said, wanted “full equality between the sexes” and to extend the length of military service from four to 11 months.
Under plans for its 2024-2033 defence settlement, 5,000 conscripts, both male and female, will be called up each year from 2026.
About 4,700 people did military service last year, women only on a voluntary basis, and usually for four months.
The plans have yet to be made law, with negotiations set to take place between parties in the coming weeks, but in June last year a broad majority in the Folketinget – the Danish parliament – agreed with a defence settlement specifying greater equality in conscription.
The defence department said its armed forces needed a “historic strengthening” that required a rethink of the conscription model amid growing concerns over Europe’s defence capabilities in the face of Russian aggression.
Denmark’s defence minister, Troels Lund Poulsen, said: “Unfortunately, the security policy situation in Europe has become more and more serious, and we have to take that into account when we look at future defence. A more robust conscription, including full gender equality, must contribute to the armed forces’ task resolution, national mobilisation and to manning our armed forces.”
He added: “It is absolutely crucial that we get a more robust conscription in Denmark when we have to build up the Danish defence. Therefore, a broader basis for recruiting that includes all genders is needed.”
Under the new 11-month conscription model, announced on Wednesday, conscripts will be given five months of basic training before spending six months in operational service across the army, air force and navy, during which they will also have training.
At the moment, all physically fit men over the age of 18 in Denmark, which has a population of just under 6 million, can be called up for military service. Because enough men do so voluntarily, there is a lottery system that means not all of them have to serve.
In 1998, women were permitted for the first time to serve military service on a voluntary basis.
Flemming Lentfer, the chief of defence, said conscription expansion was a “necessary foundation” for strengthening Denmark’s armed forces’ combat power.
“In the armed forces, we support all initiatives that can expand our recruitment base and increase diversity. Here, a higher degree of equality between the sexes is both necessary and desirable,” he said.
