Denmark Extends Mandatory Military Service and Drafts Women for the First Time

Changes to Denmark's mandatory military service system have come into force: the length of service has been extended, and the annual intake of conscripts will grow from 5,000 to 7,500 people, Reuters reports. Danish authorities first announced the reform back in 2024.

Conscripts will now undergo five months of basic training followed by six months of operational service — eleven months in total, up from the previous, shorter term. For the first time, women are also subject to mandatory service. In addition, conscripts now have access to new specializations, including service in drone units.

Many new recruits have welcomed the changes. "Now we have eleven months, and I think that's enough time to really settle in, get a genuine feel for service life, and understand army life much more deeply," said 19-year-old Silas Nør from the western Danish town of Varde.

Since the extension of service was announced, Denmark has faced a fresh security concern stemming from statements by US President Donald Trump, who has threatened since January of last year to bring Greenland under US control. Trump describes gaining control over the island as essential to US national security, but authorities in both Greenland and Denmark firmly reject these claims.

At the NATO summit this summer, Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said her country was ready to defend "every centimeter of Alliance territory, including our own." The reinforced military presence in Greenland will also involve conscripts: in August, for the first time in history, several new recruits will be sent to the world's largest island along with a hundred service members, where they will spend more than a month.

Around Prague, based on reporting by novinky.cz