Over the past few years — and especially since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine — conscription has been making a quiet return to the European political agenda. Rising security concerns, conflicting signals from the US administration, and talk of potential peace arrangements for Ukraine involving European troops have all reinforced the sense that EU militaries may have to be ready for the most extreme scenarios.
But across the bloc, there is no single approach. Some countries have kept or brought back compulsory military service, hoping to rebuild defences as tensions with Russia rise. Others are still trying to strike a balance between professional armies and the idea of civic duty, instead turning to voluntary military training schemes aimed at young people.
Conscription vs service: different approaches, different attitudes
At least ten EU member states still maintain active conscription systems. In Austria, Croatia, Cyprus, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia and Lithuania, military service is compulsory for men only, while Denmark and Sweden also include women. Depending on the country, service can last up to 15 months.
Elsewhere in Europe, the picture is more fragmented, with voluntary schemes taking different forms. In Germany, recent changes to the military service modernisation law came into force last month. Under the new rules, men aged 17 to 45 must obtain approval from the Bundeswehr if they plan to leave the country for three months or more.
Since January, young men have also been sent questionnaires assessing their fitness and willingness to serve. Completion is mandatory, though compliance is uneven. According to Bundeswehr sources cited by RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND), 72% of surveyed 18-year-olds who received the questionnaire responded, while 28% did not.
About half of those who responded said they were interested in completing at least six months of voluntary military service. But that doesn’t necessarily mean they will actually end up serving. In many cases, the deciding factor is proximity — the closer to home the posting, the higher the likelihood they go through with it.
The prospect of bringing back compulsory military service has also triggered protests from thousands of German school students. In Berlin, police said around 1,200 people gathered and marched from the Brandenburg Gate to the headquarters of Chancellor Friedrich Merz’s CDU, carrying banners reading “Education instead of bombs” and “Berlin instead of the front line”. In Hamburg, organisers said about 6,000 people joined the demonstrations.
This year, Croatia also brought back compulsory military service after a long break, introducing an initial training period of around two months and planning to send roughly 4,000 conscripts through the system each year. Recruits will be trained in basic survival skills, self-defence, first aid and FPV drone operation. The programme also comes with incentives, including a monthly allowance of €1,100, recognition of work experience, and preferential access to public sector jobs.
In France, meanwhile, authorities have launched a drive to recruit thousands of young people into a new ten-month voluntary national military service. The scheme is open to all French citizens aged 18 to 25. From September, 3,000 recruits will join the army, navy or air force to carry out missions on French territory. That figure is expected to rise to 4,000 by 2027 and to 10,000 by 2030. Participants will receive around €800 a month for their service.
Le Figaro reports that the French army has already received more than 2,300 applications for the first intake of its voluntary service scheme, despite having only 1,800 places on offer.
According to General Arnaud Goujon, around 90% of applicants are aiming for combat roles — infantry, cavalry, engineers and artillery — even though the army also offers other paths, including logistics, intelligence, technical maintenance and equipment testing.
Finland remains one of Europe’s most established models of universal military training. Most men complete compulsory service and are then regularly called up for reserve exercises. The system means a country of around 5.5 million people can mobilise hundreds of thousands of trained personnel if needed. Estonia runs a similar model, where military service is widely seen as part of basic civic duty.
Lithuania reintroduced conscription in 2015 after Russia’s occupation of Crimea and has since been gradually expanding its reserve training capacity ever since. This policy enjoys broad public support, reflecting a security threat still widely seen as immediate and real.
Latvia officially scrapped compulsory military service in 2006. But the political mood shifted sharply after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. In April 2023, the Saeima passed a new State Defence Service law, with the system coming into force at the start of 2024. Men aged 18 to 27 are now required to complete either 11 months in the regular armed forces, five years in the National Guard, or a five-year reserve officer training programme. Women can join voluntarily. As of January 2026, conscripts make up roughly a quarter of Latvia’s national service intake, while the rest are volunteers, who receive a higher monthly allowance — €600 compared to €300.
Further west and south, however, the political debate looks very different. In countries that have not faced a direct military threat for decades, public attitudes towards conscription remain far more cautious. In Italy and Spain, for example, bringing back mandatory military service is still rarely discussed at the political level. Instead, the focus remains on modernising professional armed forces and contributing to NATO missions.
At the same time, the debate on conscription in Europe is no longer just about the military. It is increasingly becoming a broader political question — about how prepared EU countries are for crisis, what role governments should play in building reserves, and whether security should once again be seen as a shared civic responsibility.
The EU still has no common policy on conscription, and there is little sign that is about to change. Defence remains a national prerogative. But Russia’s war against Ukraine has already reshaped strategic thinking across the continent.
More governments now acknowledge that professional armies alone may not be enough in the event of a large-scale conflict. The debate is shifting away from whether to restore conscription in its traditional form and towards how to build large trained reserves without triggering political or social backlash. That is where a new European model is beginning to take shape — a hybrid of professional armies, voluntary service and limited mandatory basic training.
