NordenBladet — To greatly boost the size of the country’s armed forces, Denmark plans to instate compulsory military service for women. Speaking to TV2, Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, Denmark’s Defence Minister, explained that this move would be “beneficial” for the country’s military if more women were enlisted. The move would also help for Denmark to meet its requirements under its NATO membership.
As it currently stands, men are required to serve if they are called on under a lottery system for roughly around four months, sometimes longer. For women, they can join only on a voluntary basis.
The move come to provide more levels of support to Ukraine, and the measure has been backed by several women’s organizations.
In 2015, Norway became the first member of NATO to introduce compulsory military service for women.