Belgium (Brussels Morning Newspaper) – All people reaching their 18th birthday will get an official invitation from me to serve one year in the Defence. The program exists as a voluntary affiliation which people can choose to pursue or decline. Deputy Defense Minister Theo Francken (N-VA) declared this statement during his Sudinfo interview. He wants to launch the initiative “as soon as possible”.
Theo Francken (N-VA), as Defence Minister from Belgium, intends to implement voluntary military duty programs for young adults throughout the nation. Sudinfo interviewed Francken, who stated that all 18-year-olds, irrespective of gender, would get a letter inviting their participation in Defense for one year.
The initiative, which will be entirely voluntary and not compulsory, is intended to be launched “as soon as possible.” As Francken pointed out, the Belgian government has excluded compulsory military service because of significant operational difficulties.
The minister insisted, however, that compulsory military service was not on the agenda.
“We are not ready logistically: we have neither the personnel to supervise it nor the adequate infrastructure. We lack barracks, beds… In short, we could not implement such a program today.”
What is the background and current state of military service in Belgium?
The Belgian government discontinued mandatory military duty when it converted its forces into an all-professional armed force in 1994. The willingness to reimpose mandatory military service has repeatedly come into discussion since 1994, though each time, logistical challenges along with funding problems stopped these attempts. The current force size of the Belgian Defence consists of 25,000 personnel due to recruitment difficulties that frequently surpass targets.
The proposed voluntary service plan aims to motivate youth participation through voluntary enrollment instead of maintaining obligatory military service requirements. Recently, Europe has developed a new plan for military involvement, which mirrors the security-focused policies of Sweden and Lithuania.
