Sweden's government has decided to reintroduce the draft beginning in January of 2018, a move a Swedish defense ministry representative said was sparked by worries about "the change in our neighborhood" and specifically "Russian military activity."
Come January, some 4,000 Swedes, all born in 1999, will be called up from a pool of 13,000 potential conscripts. The initial draft term will last nine to 12 months, after which the conscripts will be encouraged to maintain a full- or part-time military career, perhaps as a reservist. Sweden's military spending will also increase by 15 percent.
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