Denmark prepares: women's draft, funds and brigades

COPENAGHEN - From 1 July 2025, young Danish women will also be able to be called up for compulsory military service. This was announced by the Minister of Defence Troels Lund Poulsen, spiegando che l’obiettivo è duplice: rafforzare le forze armate danesi e anticipare la piena parità tra uomini e donne nelle responsabilità di difesa nazionale.

“Alla luce dell’attuale situazione politica e di sicurezza, le forze armate hanno bisogno di più personale. Estendere la leva anche alle donne è un passo necessario e simbolicamente importante”, ha dichiarato Poulsen.

A new female lever

The measure, initially planned for 2027, has been brought forward to 2025. Girls who turn 18 after 1 July 2025 will be invited to participate in the Defence Day 2026annual event during which young people, through a lotterydetermine the possibility of actually being called to serve, in the event of a shortage of volunteers.

Currently, women in Denmark can already enlist on a voluntary basis, and in 2023 they made up about a quarter of the new enlisted. With this reform, Denmark becomes the third European country to introduce the female conscriptionafter Norway (2015) e Sweden (2017).

Enhanced and equal defence

In addition to the inclusion of women, the new framework agreement provides for the extension of the duration of conscription from four to eleven months for both sexes. The reform also includes investment in land air defences and the creation of a 6,000-strong infantry brigade by 2028.

"We are not re-arming because we want war, but to avoid it," said the PM Mette Frederiksen. "We live in a world in which the international order is being tested."

The Russian threat and investment

The geopolitical context, in particular the growing threat posed by Russia, has prompted Denmark to significantly increase its military expenditure. A February, the government announced an additional increase of EUR 6.8 billion for defence over the next two years, having already invested 5.4 billion the previous year.

The Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen ha sottolineato che sebbene “la Russia non rappresenti una minaccia diretta per la Danimarca, non possiamo permetterci di metterci in una posizione vulnerabile”.

A NATO commitment and for Ukraine

A founding member of NATO, Denmark is among Ukraine's staunchest supporters in the war against Russia. Copenhagen will also provide F-16 fighters in Kyiv by the summer, confirming its active role in European security.

With the new plan, Denmark aims to reach the NATO target of 2% of GDP allocated to defence. In 2024, the country spent about 1.4%.