Sweden revives conscription policy due to Russian threat
The Swedish Government has decided to bring back its compulsory military draft, which was canceled in 2010. This was stated by the press-secretary of the country's Defense Ministry, Marinette Nyh Radebo, according to the BBC. One of the reasons for this decision is "Russian military activity."
Starting on January 1, 2018, about four thousand young men and women will be called up for service. They will be chosen from a pool of thirteen thousand people born in 1999 who will then be offered physical and psychological testing. Recruits will serve for 9-12 months. The purpose of the draft is to motivate young people to become military professionals and replenish the mobilization reserve.
Sweden is not a member of NATO and neither is Finland but both countries are cooperating with the alliance. Their neighbor countries, Norway and Denmark are members of NATO. In April 2015, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Denmark and Iceland signed an agreement to strengthen military cooperation. The move was seen by many experts as rapprochement of Sweden and Finland with NATO.
In early 2016, it became known that Sweden would return its military presence to the island of Gotland in the Baltic Sea where there were about twenty thousand soldiers stationed during the Cold War.