Locking at a dense section of the forest outside the capital of Denmark with camouflage paint blinked on her face, 20-year-old Katrine scans the horizon to get closer to threats.
After almost four months of military training, a young soldier and the rest of her unit spent at the beginning of June, ending the last exercises near the barracks of the Danish army in Hovelte, 25 kilometers north of Copenhagen.
Katrine and other female soldiers, who everyone talked to the Associated Press on June 11 in terms of that only their names were used because of operational security, volunteered for military service at the beginning of this year. Until now, it was the only way for women to be part of the armed forces.
The Scandinavian country is trying to increase the number of young people in the army by expanding compulsory recruitment to women for the first time. Men and women can continue to volunteer, and the other places will be filled by dragging in terms of gender.
“In the situation is now the world, it is needed,” said Katrine. “I think it is fair and right that women participate equally with men.”
According to the new regulations adopted by the Denmark Parliament, Danish women who end 18 years after Tuesday will be introduced into the lottery system, on an equal footing with their male compatriots. The change appears against the background of Russian aggression and growing military investments in NATO countries.
Move on the basis of the “current security situation”: head of the consumption program
Even from the relative safety of Denmark, the Russian invasion of Ukraine casts a shadow. Lessons from Ukrainian battlefield even filtered their training.
“It makes it very real,” said Katrine.
Denmark's gender reforms were originally defined in 2024 as part of a serious defense agreement. The program was originally expected to be implemented at the beginning of 2027, but was transferred to the summer of 2025.
Colonel Kenneth Støm, head of the collection program, said AP The Move based on the “current security situation”.
“They can participate in the collective scapering of NATO,” added Strøm. “Raising the number of conscripts that would simply lead to greater combat power.”
Denmark, a nation of six million people, has about 9,000 professional soldiers. The new agreement is expected to bring up to 6,500 annual conscripts by 2033, compared to 4700 last year.
According to Danish law, all physically efficient men over the age of 18 are called to military service. But because there is usually enough volunteers, there is a lottery system, so not all young men serve. On the other hand, women could have applied earlier, which is about a quarter of the fourth Kohort 2024.
“Some will probably be very disappointed that they will be chosen for the army,” said Anne Sofie, part of the Kohort of Volunteers, about new consumption. “Some will probably be surprised and they like it much more than they think.”
The duration of the service is also extended from four to 11 months. Beauty for the first time will spend five months at basic training, followed by six months of operational services and additional lessons.
“Degree process” of building the army
This movement is part of the wider accumulation of the Military Nordic Nation.
In February, the government of Denmark announced plans to strengthen its army, establishing a fund of $ 7 billion this year, which this year will increase defense expenditure in the country to over 3 percent of the gross domestic product. Parts of the conscript program are financed by the so -called acceleration fund.
“We see a sharpened security situation in Europe. We have a continuous conflict in Ukraine. We focus on the Baltic countries where many soldiers bring dishes. I think this is a general effort to strengthen Danish defense,” said researcher Rikke Haugegaard from the Royal Danish Defense College.
But Hauggaard notes that there are many challenges, from poorly matched equipment and lack of additional barracks, to potential cases of sexual harassment.
“Over the next year or two we will build many new buildings to accommodate all these people. So it will be a gradual process,” she added.
In 2017, neighboring Sweden established a military project of both men and women after his government talked about a deteriorating security environment in Europe. Norway introduced its own law by applying military collection of both sexes in 2013