Denmark introduces compulsory military service for girls too and extends the draft. Is Russia scary?
Denmark plans to conscript women for compulsory military service, the Danish government revealed on Wednesday, becoming one of the few countries that require women to serve in the armed forces. Not only that, but in fear of a more unstable international situation, the military service period was extended.
“A more robust conscription, including full gender equality, must help solve the challenges of defense, national mobilization and equipping our armed forces,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said in a press conference. So, in the name of equality, the girls will go to the barracks.
Women in Denmark can already volunteer for military service. In 2023, they will make up about a quarter of the cohort, but here we are talking about compulsory conscription.
Denmark is now the third country in Europe to introduce female conscription. Norway and Sweden did so in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
According to official data, the Danish Army consists of 7,000-9,000 professional soldiers, excluding conscripts undergoing basic training. Compulsory military service applies to men over the age of 18. However, since there are enough volunteers, not all young people are recruited. Instead, a lottery is carried out.
Speaking alongside Poulsen, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Denmark would extend the period of service for men and women from four to 11 months, as part of an overhaul of the country's military. It will also invest in land-based air defense systems and an infantry brigade of 6,000 soldiers by 2028.
“We are not rearming in Denmark because we want war, destruction or suffering. We are rearming right now to avoid war and in a world where the international order is being challenged,” Frederiksen said.
Foreign Minister Lars Løkke Rasmussen said the moves were made as a form of deterrence. Even if “Russia poses no threat to Denmark,” Rasmussen said, “we are not going to take ourselves to a place where they could come and do that.”
The Nordic country is a founding member of NATO and a major supporter of Ukraine in its effort to repel Russia's large-scale invasion. Copenhagen is one of the few countries supplying Kyiv with F-16 fighter jets, which will be delivered this summer.
Denmark spent around 1.4% of its gross domestic product on defense last year, but will increase its defense spending by 5.4 billion euros over the next five years to meet the target of 2 % of NATO.
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The article Denmark introduces compulsory military service for girls too and extends the draft. Is Russia scary? comes from Economic Scenarios .
This is a machine translation of a post published on Scenari Economici at the URL https://scenarieconomici.it/la-danimarca-introduce-il-servizio-militare-obbligatorio-anche-per-le-ragazze-e-allunga-la-leva-la-russia-fa-paura/ on Fri, 15 Mar 2024 19:00:16 +0000.