Queen Maxima of the Netherlands has joined the armed forces reservists at the upper age limit

Queen Maxima of the Netherlands will start working as a part-time soldier after joining the Dutch armed forces as a reservist, a decision that came amid efforts to attract volunteers to increase the army's forces in the new European security context, reports the EFE agency on Wednesday, quoted by Agerpres.

The 54-year-old queen will in the coming days begin a short course of military instruction, which will include theoretical and physical elements, a condition for entering the reservists in the so-called “flexible structure” of the Dutch defense system.

Reservists can be mobilized in emergency situations such as floods, can be involved in support actions alongside professional soldiers and, in the event of a major conflict, can replace career military personnel.

Queen Maxima's entry into the armed forces takes place at the permitted age limit – up to 55 years – and is interpreted as a gesture of symbolic institutional support for the strengthening of national defense, in which the future center-right government intends to invest billions of euros in the coming years, with the aim of increasing the defense budget to 3.5% of GDP.

Members of the Dutch royal house have a long tradition in the armed forces

Queen Maxima has already participated in military police exercises in recent years, visited the Genius Regiment in uniform and took part in aerial training exercises to extinguish forest fires. Last October, she participated in gendarmerie exercises wearing a camouflage uniform.

It is not yet clear which branch of the armed forces Maxima, the Argentine-born Dutch queen and the most popular member of the Dutch Royal House, according to recent polls, will be assigned to.

The Dutch royal family has a long tradition in the armed forces. King Willem-Alexander, husband of Queen Maxima, did his military training in the Royal Navy and then served in the land and air forces, and Prince Bernhard, the current monarch's grandfather, was inspector general of the armed forces in the 1970s.

But the first female member of the Dutch royal family to complete military service is Crown Princess Amalia, 22, who last week completed her general military training at the Defensity College, a Dutch Ministry of Defense program that combines university studies with a military training program.