Denmark to draft women into army for the 1st time amid growing Russian aggression

Peering across a dense stretch of woodland outside of Denmark's capital with camouflage paint smeared across her face, 20-year-old Katrine scans the horizon for approaching threats.

After nearly four months of military training, the young soldier and the rest of her unit spent early June completing their final exercises near the Danish army's barracks in Hovelte, 25 kilometres north of Copenhagen.

Katrine and other female soldiers, all of whom spoke to The Associated Press on June 11 on the condition that only their first names be used because of operational security, volunteered for military service earlier this year. Until now, that was the only way for women to be part of the armed forces.

The Scandinavian country is seeking to increase the number of young people in the military by extending compulsory enlistment to women for the first time. Men and women can both still volunteer, and the remaining places will be filled by a gender-neutral draft lottery.

"In the situation the world is in now, it's needed," Katrine said. "I think it's only fair and right that women participate equally with men."

Under new rules passed by Denmark's parliament earlier in June, Danish women who turn 18 after Tuesday will be entered into the lottery system, on equal footing with their male compatriots. The change comes against a backdrop of Russian aggression and growing military investment across NATO countries.

Even from the relative safety of Denmark, Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine casts its shadow. Lessons from the Ukrainian battlefields have even filtered down into their training.

"That makes it very real," Katrine said.

Denmark's gender-parity reforms were originally outlined in 2024 as part of a major defence agreement. The program was originally expected to be implemented by early 2027, but has been brought forward to summer 2025.

Col. Kenneth Strøm, head of the conscription program, told AP the move is based on "the current security situation."

"They could take part in NATO collective deterrence," Strøm added. "Raising the number of conscripts, that would simply lead to more combat power."

Denmark, a nation of six million people, has about 9,000 professional troops. The new arrangement is expected to bring up to 6,500 annual conscripts by 2033, up from 4,700 last year.

Under Danish law, all physically fit men over age 18 are called up for military service. But because there are usually enough volunteers, there's a lottery system so not all young men serve. Women, by contrast, could only volunteer previously, making up roughly a quarter of 2024's cohort.

"Some will probably be very disappointed being chosen to go into the military," Anne Sofie, part of Katrine's cohort of volunteers, said of the new female conscripts. "Some will probably be surprised and like it a lot more than they think they would."

The duration of service is also being extended from four to 11 months. Conscripts will first spend five months in basic training, followed by six months of operational service, plus additional lessons.

The move is part of a broader military buildup by the Nordic nation.

In February, Denmark's government announced plans to bolster its military by setting up a $7 billion US fund that it said would raise the country's defence spending to more than 3 per cent of gross domestic product this year. Parts of the conscript program are being financed by the so-called Acceleration Fund.

"We see a sharpened security situation in Europe. We have the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. We have focus on the Baltic countries, where Denmark is contributing a lot of soldiers. So, I think it's a general effort to strengthen the Danish defence," said researcher Rikke Haugegaard from the Royal Danish Defence College.

But Haugegaard notes there are many challenges, from ill-fitting equipment and a lack of additional barracks, to potential cases of sexual harassment.

"For the next year or two, we will be building a lot of new buildings to accommodate all these people. So, it will be a gradual process," she added.

In 2017, neighbouring Sweden instituted a military draft for both men and women after its government spoke of a deteriorating security environment in Europe. Norway introduced its own law applying military conscription to both sexes in 2013