Denmark will extend the compulsory military service to 11 months and significantly increase defense spending due to the growing threat by Russia.
Denmark plans to introduce compulsory military service for women soon. This was announced on Tuesday by the Ministry of Defense, informs TASR based on AFP report.
“Given the current situation in the field of defense and security policy, the armed forces need to accept more people,” said the head of the aforementioned resort Troels Lund Poulsen. He referred to the “complete equality” of the sex in the conscription.
Women who, after 1 July 2025, are 18 years old, could be attended by the annual armed forces from next year, which includes the draw of future conscripts. Participation in this “lottery” is so far only mandatory for healthy adult men.
However, AFP explains that such a draw would only take place if a sufficient number of conscripts would not voluntarily apply to the army in the given year.
In addition, the compulsory military service will be extended from the current four to 11 months.
Denmark, worried about the growing threat by Russia, announced in February an increase in defense expenditure by another EUR 6.8 billion for the next two years (2026 and 2027), increasing them by EUR 5.4 billion about a year ago.
