Conscription increasingly conceivable as military ups capacity amid rising tensions
The Ministry of Defense wants to recruit many more people for the Dutch Armed Forces due to the escalating tensions in the world. Defense has always said it wants to increase the army to 100,000 people strong. But sources told NOS that the Ministry is aiming for 200,000 soldiers and reservists. At those numbers, a return to military conscription is becoming increasingly conceivable, defense experts told the broadcaster.
Around 75,000 people currently work for Defense in military and non-military posts. The Netherlands also has almost 8,000 reservists who can be called up if necessary. Some are former soldiers who can perform military tasks in the country if many active soldiers are deployed abroad, for example. The rest are people who can fill civilian functions in the armed forces.
To up recruitment, State Secretary Gijs Tuinman of Defense is looking at Sweden as an example. The country requires all 17-year-olds to complete an extensive survey about their skills, motivation, and affinity with the armed forces. The Swedish army then approaches some of them for a physical and mental test. Participation is voluntary, but the active approach produces many motivated young recruits. If there are still shortages, the Swedish armed forces can conscript more young people.
Sweden reintroduced compulsory service in 2017. The Netherlands still formally has compulsory military service, but since 1997, no young people have been called up.
State Secretary Tuinman won’t rule out unorthodox measures, but he is not considering military conscription yet. “Perhaps if the escalation in the world continues to a higher level, but not yet,” he previously told the Volkskrant.
Defense experts expect that Tuinman will initially leave out the mandatory components of the Swedish model if he decides to implement it. But they agree that, without any obligation, it will be very difficult to recruit the number of people the Dutch Armed Forces want. “The ambition is good, but there has to be a plan. If you want to increase that much, you have to make some things mandatory,” Dick Zandee, a defense expert at Cllingendael, told NOS.
Jean Debie of the Union for Civil and Military Defense Personnel thinks that compulsory conscription will become a serious option eventually. The union expects the military will introduce it gradually if voluntary recruitment proves insufficient.
Former military commander Mart de Kruif added that the military needs more capacity to train new recruits before anything else. “Compulsory conscription is not realistic now, given the limited number of trainers, places, and equipment available,” he told NOS.
