Denmark to conscript women for the first time in defence overhaul

Copenhagen — Denmark will boost its defence budget and change its conscription policy to include women for the first time to address major defence shortcomings "in a world where the international order is being challenged”, Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says.

A founding member of defence alliance Nato, Denmark scaled back its military capabilities after the end of the Cold War in the early 1990s.

"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," Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told reporters, indirectly referring to Russia's military moves in recent years and months.

Russia, which is engaged in a war in Ukraine, plans to deploy troops and military equipment to the Finnish border, following the latter’s entry to Nato, President Vladimir Putin said on Wednesday.

The plan presented by the majority government included extending conscription service to 11 months from four months, and making service equal for all, meaning both men and women will be called up. It says 5,000 conscripts will be called up each year from 2026. About 4,700 people did military service last year, women only on a voluntary basis, the Guardian reports.

Denmark has come under pressure from Washington to bring military spending back up to a Nato target of 2% of GDP, from 1.4% last year.

The fresh defence funding of  40.5-billion Danish kroner ($5.9bn) over five years comes in addition to 155-billion kroner it pledged last year for the next 10 years.

While vast military aid for Ukraine, including a donation of F-16 fighter jets, has helped Denmark meet the Nato spending target, it has yet to invest in a major way in its own forces.

The new money will help Denmark meet Nato’s target by next year, Frederiksen said. Denmark had previously expected to reach the target by 2030.

Investments will cover land-based air defence systems and a heavy infantry brigade of up to 6,000 soldiers by 2028 which could be deployed as part of Nato’s emergency forces on high alert.

Reuters