¿Sería posible para Europa reclutar 300,000 soldados sin la ayuda de Estados Unidos para disuadir a Rusia?
While the armed forces in Europe are operating at capacity limits and defense budgets are constrained, could European nations reinstate compulsory military service? NATO allies are exploring this possibility.
After the Cold War, European countries systematically downsized their armies. Some key countries like France, have suspended compulsory military service and have appropriately reduced the size of their armed forces: by 38% from the 1990s to today. Only Austria, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Norway, Switzerland, and Turkey have never suspended recruitment (using different formulas) for compulsory military service.
«Now, the most urgent need is essentially having troops to hold the line, not necessarily to fight the Russians, but to send a strong deterrent message,» said Alexandr Burilkov, a researcher at Leuphana University in Lüneburg, to «Euronews».
Burilkov is one of the co-authors of a joint analysis by the Bruegel think tank and the Kiel Institute, which estimates that Europe will need 300,000 additional troops to defend itself in addition to 1.47 million active military personnel, including those from the UK. «In the past two years, the Russians have largely put their economy and society into a war footing,» said Burilkov, adding that «when considered collectively, increasing defense capabilities is not an impossible expense, especially when the consequences are taken into account.»
The recruitment debate gains strength within NATO
Allies are currently discussing how to do so, both in terms of equipment and military personnel as Recruitment is part of the debate, according to an official from the Atlantic Alliance on «Euronews», who added that to ensure effective collective defense in the current environment, more strength is needed to meet the alliance’s defense plans. «How to generate these forces, whether by using the recruitment system, reserve forces, or another model, is a sovereign national decision made by the allies,» said the same official.
The transatlantic military alliance does not impose national military policies, but it can play a role in defining a Demand signal and facilitate exchanges among allies. The official added that discussions on best practices, lessons learned, and the potential role of NATO in addressing recruitment and retention challenges will be raised on the alliance’s agenda.
After Russia’s military aggression against Ukraine, Baltic States such as Latvia and Lithuania have implemented various recruitment models to expand their armed forces. Croatia also intends to reintroduce compulsory military service this year, and several countries could follow suit, while intelligence services warn of a possible Russian attack against a NATO member state and increase uncertainty about Donald Trump’s commitment to NATO and European security.
«To have resilient armies that not only last in the initial stages of conflict but continue fighting if necessary, it is very necessary to introduce any kind of railroad much The amount of available personnel that The resilience of that system,» argued Burilkov, referring to conscription, as well as reserves and efficiency.
Lessons from Baltic patterns
Finland and Estonia have conscription. Denmark, Lithuania, and Latvia use a Draft recruitment system, while Norway and Sweden have a Selective compulsory service.
There is no one-size-fits-all solution, but researchers in the field have presented in a 2024 paper that Lessons can be drawn from Nordic and Baltic countries. These countries have introduced Various incentives to make military service more appealing such as economic benefits and job opportunities.
Lithuania, for example, offers Financial aid for those who voluntarily serve, as well as job and educational assistance during and after military service. And the defense forces in Estonia also collaborate with private employers in programs such as one where they send their workers to cyber service to enhance their skills and then apply them in their positions.
«Many armies are going through a Reconsideration process of functions to be Military and those that need to be Civilian because the nature of war and national security are changing,» said Linda Slapakova, a researcher at Rand Europe. However, not everyone agrees on the need to reinstate compulsory military service, an option impossible in some countries and deemed unlikely or impractical from a political standpoint.
«If we focus only on the military, there is a lot of infrastructure Education for people to undergo medical checks and enroll for training and services,» explained Slapakova to «Euronews», emphasizing that this kind of infrastructure does not exist in many countries. added.
According to a Gallup survey conducted last year, only 32% of EU citizens would be willing to defend their country in case of war. In major EU economies like Italy, Germany, and Spain, the figures were even lower: only 14% of Italians, 23% of Germans, and 29% of Spaniards said they would be willing to fight for their country in wartime.
