Greece has announced that its armed forces will begin the voluntary enlistment of women as part of the country’s “Agenda 2030,” an approach aiming to reform the Greek Armed Forces.
The announcement was made Monday, March 10, by Greek Defense Minister Nikos Dendias at a General National Defense Staff event celebrating International Women’s Day (March 8). A section of the “Agenda 2030” includes the voluntary conscription of women, “something that has been foreseen a long time ago by Law 705/1977 but had never been implemented,” Dendias said.
He added that this measure will grant the armed forces access to valuable human resources.
“Women fight daily, demanding equal treatment in every aspect of their lives -socially and professionally. They demand the same within the armed forces of our country,” Dendias said.
Reflecting on Greece’s military heritage, Dendias said that “Since antiquity, deep antiquity, we here in Greece do not believe in a mercenary army. We believe in an army of citizens, which is managed by worthy professionals who come from Greek society,” adding that women make up 17.5 percent of the country’s Armed forces.
Currently, women can serve in Greece’s Armed Forces only as professional officers, provided they graduate from a military academy.
Greece has been considering the introduction of the voluntary enlistment of women in the armed forces since last year, according to the defense reorganization that is being drafted.
A year ago, Defense Minister Nikos Dendias called for the “use of all the forces of society in defense,” including the voluntary enrollment of women.
Women in Greece can serve voluntarily in all branches of the Hellenic Armed Forces. However, they are not mandated to serve through conscription unlike their male counterparts.
Since their official introduction in 1977, women in the Greek military have served in various roles and are also increasingly being integrated into combat support roles. However, they remain excluded from specific combat units.
As of 2023, women made up around 16.8 percent of the total personnel in the Greek Armed Forces with the highest percentage being in the air force at around 20 percent and the lowest in the navy at around 10 percent.
There have been ongoing efforts to increase the number of women in the Greek military and promote gender equality within the ranks.
Dendias had also referred to the plan concerning the upgrading of the reserve, i.e. the citizens who will be able to contribute more, operationally, to the Greek army.
According to this, the reservists will have the possibility at regular intervals to return and retrain so that Greece maintains a significant core of trained manpower. “This way, we will be able to deal with any threat, of any size, wherever it comes from,” it was said.
The Ministry of Defense has also been considering measures to modernize and upgrade higher military educational institutions in the country. It also mulls the establishment of a joint IT body—for all three branches of the armed forces—to strengthen cyber security and the establishment of a Department of Artificial Intelligence and a Department of Analytical Data (Big Data).
“For the government, strengthening the deterrent power of the Armed Forces is an absolute priority,” said Dendias, recalling the statement of the Prime Minister in the last cabinet that this reform is perhaps the largest that has taken place in the history of the Greek state. “Hence the formulation of ‘Agenda 2030,’ i.e. the major reform of the Armed Forces which is underway.”
