Denmark introduces compulsory military service for women - does that also come to Austria?

Denmark introduces compulsory military service for women - does that also come to Austria?

On March 25, 2025, Denmark made a significant decision and announced the introduction of military service for women. Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen announced this decision during a press conference. From 2026, women who live to be 18 after July 1, 2025 can be confiscated for military service. This marks a crucial turning point, since conscription in Denmark has so far been only for men aged 18 and over. Women only had the opportunity to report voluntarily and currently make up about 25 percent of basic military service providers in the military. In addition, basic military service is to be extended from four to eleven months, which increases the requirements for all recruits. According to Sweden, Denmark is the second EU country that takes this step, while Norway also has a compulsory compulsory for women, but is not a member of the EU. Loud Exxpress.at Could this innovation also have an impact on other countries, such as Austria, where there is currently no conscription for women.

The decision of Denmark to attract women to compulsory military service is in the context of increasing security challenges. The Danish Minister of Defense emphasized that women will have to serve under the same conditions as men in the future. However, it will be important whether there are enough volunteers; Otherwise, a lottery procedure is used to select the recruits. The aim is to increase the number of conscripts in defense and disaster protection from currently around 4,700 to up to 7,500 in order to cover the country's need for defense, so tagesschau.de.

Compulsory military service for women in Europe

The discussion about the compulsory military service for women is not limited to Denmark. This practice is already a reality in other countries. Rnd reports that, for example, men in Israel have three years, but women have to do military service for two years. A gender -neutral conscription has also been established in Norway since 2015. Sweden introduced compulsory military service for all countries between the ages of 16 and 70 in 2017. In Germany, on the other hand, compulsory military service was suspended in 2011, and a possible reintroduction that also includes recruitment of women would need a change in the Basic Law that requires a two -thirds majority in the Bundestag and Federal Council.

With these advanced steps in Denmark, the discussion about equality in military service is initiated again worldwide. It remains to be seen whether Austria and other European countries that currently do not have compulsory military service for women will imitate this decision. However, the trend seems to go towards the stronger integration of women into military structures, especially against the background of growing security concerns in the region.