Denmark wants to increase the number of young people doing military service by extending conscription to women and increasing the time of service from four months to 11 months for both genders, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said on Wednesday.
“We do not rearm because we want war. We are rearming because we want to avoid it,” Frederiksen told a news conference.
She said the government wants ”full equality between the sexes.”
Photo: EPA-EFE
Denmark has up to 9,000 professional troops on top of the 4,700 conscripts undergoing basic training, official figures showed.
The government wants to increase the number of conscripts by 300 to reach a total of 5,000.
The country is a member of the NATO alliance and a staunch supporter of Ukraine in its war against Russia’s invasion.
Danish Minister of Foreign Affairs Lars Lokke Rasmussen said that “Russia does not pose a threat to Denmark.”
“But we will not bring ourselves to a place where they could come to do that,” Lokke Rasmussen said.
All physically fit men over the age of 18 are called up for military service, which lasts about four months. However, because there are enough volunteers, there is a lottery system, meaning not all young men serve.
Last year, there were 4,717 conscripts in Denmark. Women who volunteered for military service accounted for 25.1 percent of the cohort, official figures showed.
Danish Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen said the new system would require a change in the law, which he said would happen next year and take effect in 2026.
The security policy situation in Europe “has become more and more serious, and we have to take that into account when we look at future defense,” Lund Poulsen said.
“A broader basis for recruiting that includes all genders is needed,” he said, adding that it would will create “a more versatile and more complete defense.”
Under the plan for which there likely is a majority in the Danish parliament, conscripts would first spend five months in basic training, followed by six months in operational service along with supplementary training.
In 2017, Sweden instituted a military draft for both men and women because the Swedish government spoke of a deteriorating security environment in Europe and around Sweden.
The Scandinavian country had previously abolished compulsory military service for men in 2010, because there were enough volunteers to meet its military needs. It never had a military draft for women before.
Norway in 2013 introduced a law applying military conscription to both sexes.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS