In a Birckereed wood in Denmark, Katrine is looking. In the camouflage, the shoe vest on the back and the helmet in the head, must point out any potential threat to the horizon. “Two infantry soldiers seem to leave the brave point,” alerts the wife of her Talkie-Talkie.
Almost realistic, this situation is just an exercise. But the Russian invasion in Ukraine in February 2022 and the growing tensions between Europe and Moscow were enough to convince Katrine to participate in the Danish army and follow a four -month military training.
“Given the state of today’s world, I think it is correct and necessary for women to participate as much as men,” Katrine said in the BFMTV microphone.
Last month, the Danish Parliament voted to expand mandatory military service to women. From this Tuesday, July 1, the Danes over 18 can be called to fulfill their duty. Until now, this obligation has only reserved for men, and women could participate based on volunteers.
The objective of the Danish government: to train around 6,000 recruits per year since 2033, an increase of 40% compared to current figures. At the moment, Denmark has 9,000 professional soldiers for 6 million inhabitants.
40.5 billion crowns between 2024 and 2028
Despite this revolution, the Danish army still needs adaptation. “There are different things that have to improve especially in terms of equipment. At the moment they are designed for men, the backpacks are too large, the uniforms too, but I know they are solving the problem,” says Katrine.
In March, Denmark announced that he wanted to extend his military service from 4 to 11 months in 2026. A measure that is part of the kingdom’s defense plan, whose envelope amounts to 40.5 billion crowns between 2024 and 2028 (around 5,400 million euros).
This policy “is linked to the security situation to have a greater combat power and to be able to have these skills for the army, the Navy, the Air Force or the Special Forces,” explains Colonel Kenneth Strom, head of the Danish recruits program in BFMTV.
The inclusion of women in the army is, therefore, a crucial problem for Denmark, the last of the three Scandinavian countries to make military service mixed mandatory. Norway voted in 2013 before establishing it in 2016. The same intention for Sweden, which operated this turning point in 2017. In Denmark, a quarter of the volunteers were women in 2024.
Source: BFM TV
