Which European nations require women to do military service?

Published on 02/07/2025 – 17:03 GMT+2•Updated
17:04

Danish women can now be called up for a period of compulsory military service when they turn 18, after Denmark became the latest northern European nation to adopt gender-inclusive conscription.

Under new rules passed by Denmark’s parliament, women turning 18 will be entered into a lottery system for military conscription, on an equal footing with their male compatriots.

In Denmark, volunteers — both men and women — are signed up first for conscription, while the remaining numbers are drawn up in the lottery system that previously only involved men.

The new law also extends the period of conscription from four months to 11 months.

Stephanie Vincent Lyk-Jensen, a researcher at the Danish Centre for Social Science Research (VIVE), told Euronews that the decision has provoked mixed reactions.

“Some sections of the population, particularly women, feel that this reform is unfair, putting forward other arguments relating to the fact that it is only women who give birth to children,” she said. “But for a large part of the population, it is just as important for women to have access to military service on an equal footing with men.”

Wider build-up

The move is part of a broader military build-up by the Nordic nation. In February, Denmark’s government announced plans to bolster its military by setting up a $7 billion (€5.9 billion) fund that it said would raise the country’s defence spending to more than 3% of GDP this year.

Denmark, a nation of 6 million people, has about 9,000 professional troops. The new rules are expected to bring the figure up to 6,500 people doing military service annually by 2033, up from 4,700 last year.

In Europe, military service is compulsory for men in around 10 countries, including Finland, Cyprus and Greece.

Norway voted to extend conscription to women in 2013. It was introduced in 2016. In Sweden, conscription was suspended in 2010 but reintroduced for both genders in 2017.

Lyk-Jensen said that Denmark’s military must implement necessary measures in order to ensure equal opportunities within the armed forces, as well as support and inclusivity.

“The army has introduced several measures. First of all, they tried to find out what the problems were in terms of sexual harassment and discrimination against women within the army. And they made it quite clear that these were behaviours that were unwelcome in the army”, she said.

Currently within the European Union, women account for about 10% of armed forces personnel on average, according to estimates from the EU.