Europe back in arms: from France to Denmark, who reintroduces the draft and who relies on volunteers

The words of Defence Minister Guido Crosetto, who intends to propose a draft bill for the return of voluntary conscription on the German model, and French President Emmanuel Macron's announcement of a new, more militarised voluntary national service have brought conscription, in all its forms, back to the centre of the European debate.

Europe currently shows a varied mosaic: some countries maintain or have reintroduced compulsory conscription, others invest in voluntary programmes that can be rapidly expanded in the event of a crisis, all with the common goal of forming trained reserves ready to respond to geopolitical tensions, first and foremost the Russian threat after the invasion of Ukraine. In Northern Europe, the compulsory or selective-compulsory models are well-established and often equal.

In Denmark, the duration of military service increased last year from four to eleven months and has been compulsory for women since 1 July. Young Danes are drawn to serve or not to serve according to the needs of the army.

Finland requires men to serve between 6 and 12 months, with compulsory reserve service until the age of 50-60, while women can enlist voluntarily.

Norway, since 2013, calls both sexes but only selects 15-18% of each age group based on motivation and physical fitness. Similar systems, with durations between 6 and 12 months, remain active in Estonia, Greece, Switzerland, Austria and Cyprus. In the last decade, several states have reversed the suspension of conscription decided in the early 2000s. Lithuania reinstated it in 2015, Sweden in 2017 (in a selective and gender-neutral form), Latvia in 2023 (compulsory for men, voluntary for women), and Croatia approved the return of conscription in January 2025, with entry into force on 1 January 2026 (two months' service for men).