The government will use former conscripts in a new force

Denmark must have a new mobilization force in the event of crisis or war, says Troels Lund Poulsen.

The government is in the process of ‘drawing up a concrete plan for organizing a new mobilization force’.

“A force of many thousands of former conscripts who must be ready to rejoin the Armed Forces in the event of a crisis or war.”

This is what Minister of Defense Troels Lund Poulsen (V) says in a video speech on the occasion of Constitution Day. The speech has been sent to Ritzau.

Troels Lund Poulsen is in Brussels on Thursday and therefore cannot deliver a constitutional speech in Denmark.

Instead, he has recorded his speech on a video, in which he makes three news items.

Next week, the government will make a decision on the purchase of ‘the first systems in relation to ground-based air defense’.

In 2026, the systems will be ready for use, Troels Lund Poulsen expects.

In addition, the new 11-month military service will be brought forward so that the first batch will start in February 2026 and not in August 2026.

And then the announcement about the new mobilization force, which Troels Lund Poulsen does not elaborate further on in the video.

“When there is an urgency for air defense, new conscription and the building of a new mobilization force, it is because we are at war again in Europe, and because the world we know is changing rapidly,” he says in the speech.

The plans for some kind of mobilization force do not come completely out of the blue.

Back in the second partial agreement under the major defense settlement from April 2024, it is mentioned that ‘recalling conscripts within five years is a crucial tool’.

Therefore, an analysis was initiated that, among other things, was to uncover ‘concrete options for conscripts to be recalled into units where there would be equipment and facilities available and a clear organization with a view to supporting operational readiness’.

With the expanded conscription, there will be up to 7,500 conscripts per year in the Danish Armed Forces and the Emergency Management Agency. With the current model, there are around 5,000 conscripts each year.

Ritzau