Danish women to face conscription by lottery

Danish women are called to 11 -month military service when they reach 18 years of age after a change in the law.

In accordance with the new rules adopted by the Danish Parliament, women may require young men to undertake an invasion period in a lottery system.

Brought as a change NATO countries increase defense expenditures Increased security concerns in Europe.

So far, when women were 18 years old, they were only allowed to participate in military service.

As of Tuesday, 18 -year -old men and women will be asked to register for potential military service. Volunteers first, the remaining numbers will be created from the lottery system.

The change will also see that the consultation time for young people has risen from four months to 11 months.

Approximately 4,700 Danish men and women received a short military service in 2024 – approximately 24% of them are women volunteers. Mandatory new rules are expected to see that military service has risen to 6,500 each year by 2033.

Denmark is following the example of the neighbor Sweden and Norway, both for women in recent years.

In March, the government also announced an increase of 40.5 billion Danish crowns (£ 4.3 billion, £ 5.9 billion) in defense expenditures over the next five years to meet NATO targets.

There are currently about 9,000 professional staff working in Denmark’s army.

Colonel Kenneth Strom, the President of the Danish army invasion program, said the change is “based on a political decision and the political agreement by the parties”.

“And frankly, it is based on the current security situation to achieve more war power and have the necessary skills for the army, navy, air force or even special operational forces.”

Speaking to the Reuters news agency, Katrine, a current volunteer in the army of Denmark, said, “In the world, we are currently in the case of the world, you need to have more soldiers and I think women need to contribute equally as men do.

“I think this is a positive change.”