Efforts by the defence ministry to boost reservists’ numbers by 20,000 by 2030 may prove fruitless unless politicians put compulsory military service back on the agenda, experts have told news website Nu.nl.

The ministry aims to up the number of members of the armed forces from 74,000 to 100,000, including the 20,000 reservists.

At the start of 2022, the army had 6,632 reservists, who, apart from their regular job, are trained by the defence ministry and can be called upon in times of war. A campaign at the time resulted in 13,000 applications but only 1,876 actually signed up.

Increasing that number from 8,510 to 20,000 in 2030 does not seem feasible, defence expert Peter Wijninga of The Hague Centre for Strategic Studies told the news platform.

Since September this year, all 18- to 27-year-olds in the Netherlands have been asked to take part in a voluntary survey to assess their interest in working for the defence ministry. Some 11,000 forms have been sent but just 906 have been returned, Nu.nl said.

Although the ministry has been campaigning hard, and 4,1000 applications to become a reservist have come in this year, more needs to be done, Wijninga said. “Under the old rules, the army could call on conscripts to serve until they reached the age of 45 but that has been scrapped with compulsory military service,” he said.

Wijtinga says if the defence ministry is serious about recruiting more reservists then the discussion about compulsory military service should be put back on the agenda.

“Many political parties are afraid to touch it because it could cost them votes, so they are ignoring the elephant in the room,” he said. “But if they are serious about the need for more reservists, they should at least talk about it.”

An obligation to participate in the survey – as is the case in Scandinavia – could be a step in the right direction, he said.

The number of applications may be boosted indirectly by princess Amalia who sis taking a second degree in law and will also become a military reservist.

Amalia is combining her second bachelor’s degree with a placement at Defensity College, where university and college students receive basic military training and are officially considered reservists upon completion.