DENMARK’S government announced plans today to increase the number of young people doing military service by extending conscription to women and increasing the time of service from four to 11 months.

“We do not rearm because we want war,” Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen told a press conference today.

“We are rearming because we want to avoid it.”

Denmark currently has up to 9,000 professional troops on top of the 4,700 conscripts undergoing basic training, according to official figures.

The government wants to increase the number of conscripts by 300 to reach a total of 5,000.

All physically fit men over the age of 18 are called up for military service, which lasts roughly four months. However, because there are enough volunteers, there is a lottery system, meaning not all young men serve.

Defence Minister Troels Lund Poulsen said the new system would require a change in the law, which he said will happen in 2025 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 defence,” Mr Lund Poulsen said.

“A broader basis for recruiting that includes all genders is needed,” he said, adding it will create “a more versatile and more complete defense.”

Under the plan for which there likely is a majority in the Danish parliament, conscripts will first spend five months in basic training, followed by six months in operational service along with supplementary training.

In 2017, neighbouring 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 introduced a law in 2013 applying military conscription to both sexes.