The Belgian government has sent 149,000 letters to 17-year-olds to encourage them to perform voluntary military service. The monthly salary is 2,000 euros.

Belgium has launched an initiative inviting all 17-year-olds to join the voluntary military service, which will start in September 2026. The government has sent 149,000 letters to inform young people about this opportunity, which offers a net salary of 2,000 euros per month. The Minister of Defense, Theo Francken, emphasized that this measure addresses the need for personnel in the Ministry of Defense, in the context of increasing defense spending to 2% of GDP, in line with NATO commitments.

The voluntary military service will include training for 500 young people, with plans to expand to 1,000 in 2027 and up to 7,000 later. Recruits will carry out surveillance activities in various branches of the armed forces. However, this initiative has sparked reactions from youth associations, which fear the normalization of militarization and the exploitation of young people in the pursuit of socio-economic stability. This is a reintroduction of public military service, suspended in 1993, but now on a voluntary basis. In comparison, Romania recently adopted a similar program, offering a monthly salary of 4,000-5,000 lei for volunteers.