In an effort to bolster the size of its military, Denmark has announced a policy of enforcing conscription for women. This new initiative is intended to expand the nation’s defense capabilities significantly.
By doing this Denmark can meet the obligations of its NATO membership agreement.
In an interview with broadcaster TV2, Danish Defence Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Jakob Ellemann-Jensen agreed that the military would benefit from larger numbers of female employees.
Presently, women are able to join the military voluntarily while men tend to be mandated if their name is drawn in a lottery system.
Numerous women’s organizations have approved the new measure, a sign that Denmark and other European countries are providing more support to Ukraine in its struggle against Russia. The effort is part of Europe-wide efforts to force out Russian forces from Ukrainian soil.
The Defence Minister made the decision to act after his office released a biannual report by NATO which admonished Denmark for not deploying adequate funds toward its armed forces on both sea and land.
Rather than releasing the entire report, as it has done in past years, it released only partial information due to “the current security policy situation and Russia’s aggression”.
Before Denmark last month announced that it would accelerate its defense spending plans by three years to reach 2% of gross domestic product in 2030 and invest an additional 4.5 billion kroner (S$865 million), this report had already been conducted.
Last week, amidst debate and fear of leaving Denmark’s own defense vulnerable, the nation decided to donate a total of 19 self-propelled Caesar-class guns to Ukraine.
The Deputy Prime Minister has declared that Denmark will not however be donating its Leopard tanks to Ukraine at this time.
