More than 1,500 women have volunteered for military service, the Finnish Defence Forces (FDF) stated in a press release after applications for the summer 2024 cohort closed on 15 January.
According to the FDF, this is the third highest number of applicants in history.
Women have been trained for almost thirty years in the FDF Reserve. Since then, over 13,000 women have completed voluntary military service in the Defence Forces and the Finnish Border Guard.
This year's number of applications increased by about 300 compared to last year.
Women can volunteer to serve in all branches of the Finnish Defence Forces and in all service positions.
In recent years, there has been much political discussion surrounding the expansion of Finland's conscription model to include women.
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EDIT 24.1.2024 This story has been edited to remove a reference to the number of women serving in 2022.
