Russian scare may soon force Denmark to extend conscription to women

New Delhi: European Union member Denmark, triggered by rising security fears after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last year, may soon make women available for conscription.

Denmark’s Defence Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen, in an interview with the Danish state broadcaster TV2, said that the Scandinavian country, which has a sex ratio of 98.3 males per 100 females, could no longer rely on volunteers for military service. He said that everyone, including women, should now be made eligible for compulsory military service and the size of the army should be increased.

Pointing to the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, the minister said that the country, not too far from Russia, and its allies face a common threat from Russia. He claimed that if Russia succeeds in Ukraine, it will set Europe in its crosshairs.

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Russia, he said, “must lose.”

The comments come in after the Danish defence ministry published the findings of a NATO report which showed that the country had failed to invest enough in defence.

After the review was conducted, Denmark, last month, announced that it plans to increase its defence spending by $660 million in order to reach to bring it up to 2 per cent of the GDP, which is NATO’s set standard for member states.

The Danish law allows the Army to forcefully conscript all physically able men above 18 for a service spanning between four months to one year. Women, who are though allowed to voluntarily join the forces, aren’t, however, legally obliged to do so.

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Women, at present, account for 17 per cent of the personnel in the army. Volunteers consist of more than 96 per cent of volunteers and only less than one per cent of conscripts.

“The armed forces would benefit from more women”, the minister said.

As a NATO member also, Denmark is obliged the up the number of women serving its armed forces.

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