Denmark decided to extend the military draft to young women starting in the coming months, two years earlier than initially planned. Danish women who turn 18 after July 2025 will be required to register for the health screening and subsequent draft. At the same time, the standard service period will also be increased from 4 to 11 months.
In Denmark, health screenings have always been mandatory for men, but only those who are deemed fit enough for service are required to participate in the lottery. Service obligation is then determined by the number of places not filled by volunteers each year and a random number they draw—with 5,000 expected to be conscripted this year.
Starting this summer, the same system will be put in place for women. Initially planned for 2027, the move was announced by Denmark’s liberal government just a few weeks ago, then revised and accelerated this week.
“In light of the current defense and security policy situation, the armed forces need to recruit more people,” Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen explained, adding that the government is also motivated by gender equality:
This is therefore an important signal to move up full equality between men and women to July 1, 2025.
Despite the woke language, the decision is expected to meet heavy opposition from young voters. While there was no recent opinion polling on the issue, a poll in 2011 determined that two-thirds of Danes wanted conscription to be abolished, a number probably much higher among the younger generations.
Denmark is the third Scandinavian country to introduce women’s conscription. Norway was the first NATO country to introduce military service for women in 2015, and Sweden reintroduced its conscription in 2017, applying it to both sexes from the start. Latvia, which started drafting men in 2023, is also planning to extend the draft to women by 2028, but it might follow Denmark’s example by bringing it forward a few years.
Apart from these countries, some form of mandatory military service for men is in place in Austria, Cyprus, Finland, Greece, and Lithuania, ranging from six to twelve months. Moreover, Croatia and Poland will bring back conscription this year, while the incoming German government is strongly considering doing the same.
The reason for this EU-wide shift is not only the rapidly changing geopolitical realities, as the officials often claim, but the fact that Europe’s volunteer armed forces are shrinking every year. The war in Ukraine has only accelerated this trend.
According to a Gallup poll published in 2024, only 32% of EU citizens would be willing to fight for their country if war broke out. In non-EU European countries, this figure rises to around 60%, which begs the question if the problem lies with Brussels.
No wonder that young Europeans don’t want to defend their nations after decades of being told by globalist leaders that nationalism is the enemy. What remains, therefore, is forced conscription—of both sexes, in the name of gender equality. Any doubts about the suitability of women for frontline combat will also be ignored.
