The government refuses to increase soldiers' salaries despite the major challenges facing the Danish armed forces.

According to TV2, Defense Minister Troels Lund Poulsen is refusing to increase salaries in the armed forces, despite being open to reintroducing special arrangements for soldiers and recruitment at a time when the armed forces are suffering from a shortage of staff and retention of personnel and soldiers.

According to DR, 1,606 armed forces personnel left their jobs last year, the largest number of so-called “unexpected departures” from the armed forces in 10 years if you ignore 2022 when 1,769 left the armed forces.

“A scene from the movie Titanic”

In another article published on the TV2 website, Jesper Korsgaard Hansen, chairman of the board of directors of CS, believes that the situation in the armed forces is reminiscent of the scene from the movie “Titanic” where the orchestra plays while the ship is sinking: “Here, the officials are the ones playing while the ship is sinking.” He adds that employees who receive civil service pensions will remain in the armed forces, but the new generation will disappear.

In another article just published, TV2 asked the Danish Defence Board how many soldiers and other personnel the Danish Defence currently lacks. However, the board declined to answer due to security concerns: “With the security situation in Europe unfortunately worsening, we cannot at the moment make a specific statement about personnel and vacancies, as that would indicate the combat strength of the armed forces,” the reply stated in an email.

Local media also recently reported on new delays in procurement for the armed forces due to donations to Ukraine, which have led to shortages in the armed forces and left Danish barracks and some soldiers without weapons or equipment.

When the Danish government decided last year to raise the salaries of nurses, social workers, teachers, and prison staff, the main argument was that employees in these "vital" professional groups were difficult to recruit and retain. However, over the past year, recruiting personnel for the armed forces has become even more challenging, as shown by figures from the Danish Employment Agency reported by TV2.

However, problems with recruiting and retaining soldiers are not prompting the government to consider increasing salaries for this select professional group, according to the defense minister's statement to the source: "No, I am not prepared to increase the salary." The government is thus sticking to its previous answer, even though low wages are the most prominent reason for the difficulty in recruiting and retaining colleagues in Danish defense, according to the three main trade unions: Hærens Constable- og Corporalforening (HKKF), Centralforeningen for Stampersonel (CS), and the Main Organisation of Officers in Denmark (HOD).

The war in Ukraine has led to increased political vigilance for the armed forces. The government has allocated nearly 200 billion Danish kroner to strengthen Danish defense in the period from 2024 to 2033. This has broad support in the Danish parliament, due to the need to modernize equipment and facilities in the Danish armed forces. The funds were also allocated to retain staff in the first of four sub-agreements on what the billions will be spent on, but there is no prospect of an extraordinary increase in salaries.

“I don’t think that salary alone makes the difference.”
Troils Lund Poulsen, Minister of Defence

Several parties in parliament are currently putting pressure on the government while negotiations are underway regarding the second partial agreement.

The minister cites as an example that you can reinstate the previous scheme called Civic Education (CU), which was implemented in 2013. With this scheme, soldiers can obtain the right to receive education with full pay after their time in the armed forces. .

"It's one of the things I think we should be discussing, and I'm open to it too," says Troils Lund Poulsen.

It is noted that a strong Danish defense is essential in the current security policy. And that members of the armed forces should enjoy better working conditions than they do today.

The Danish Democrats disagree with the defense minister's comment on the role of salaries in attracting and retaining staff and soldiers: "There is no doubt that the salary bears a large part of the blame for this. Soldiers cannot even afford a down payment on a house," according to Danish Democrats defense spokesperson Lise Beck, as reported by the source. She points out that some soldiers receive relatively low salaries, even when they have served in the armed forces for 10 to 20 years, according to Berlingske and TV2.

Focus on a specific group of soldiers

The Socialist Alliance and Denmark Democrats parties are primarily concerned with raising the salaries of police personnel, a large proportion of whom are currently unskilled. The two parties want to raise the level of education through vocational guidance to train police personnel, so that all policemen in the future will be skilled and therefore receive a higher salary: “We have raised this with the Minister of Defense, and of course we hope that he will respond to it,” says Anne Valentina Bertheelsen of SF, according to the source.

For example, an unskilled police officer received a basic salary of 22,636 Danish kroner in 2023. In addition, there was a military allowance of 1,906 kroner and 12% in the pension, according to HKKF. A skilled police officer receives approximately 2,500 Danish kroner more, according to figures from HKKF.

The Danish Democrats also want to consider salary supplements for other professional groups in the armed forces.

While the focus has recently been on soldiers' pay, one of the governing parties has opened the door to a pay increase, with Peter Hough, spokesman for the Moderate Defence Party, saying: "I can't just put a figure on it, but it's definitely more than what they're getting now.".

But the defense minister denies that it is merely a topic of discussion, even though the new figures indicate greater recruitment challenges among soldiers compared to nurses, social workers and teachers.