To wonder if anyone has or is considering moving to a country that's less likely to be involved if Putin attacks a NATO country. (title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[Carla786]

I hope that if WW3 happened, I'd be brave enough to stay and fight. I love Britain & I'd hate to leave it or see it invaded by Putin.

However, at the same time I'm wondering about the recent rush of articles suggesting conflict with Russia is inevitable by around 2030 and that civilians need to prepare to be conscripted to fight if NATO is attacked. I'd always thought Britain being land-invaded was fairly unlikely, but being called up to fight in a NATO war widens the options of what might happen.

Countries that are less likely to be involved include Austria, Switzerland, New Zealand, Republic of Ireland. I don't particularly want to move to any of these. If call-ups are likely to be imminent in about 4 years, I don't know..

The country I've always thought I'd move to if I did move is Poland (where I have family ties)- but of course that's far more likely to be involved in a potential war!

More info on potential conscription :

General Sir Patrick Sanders also warned the Government last year that they should be preparing Brits for conscription "within six years"(
If World War III should break out, some people in the UK would be at a higher risk of being called upon than others. Though Keir Starmer has said "nobody is talking about conscription" right now, some experts are worried. Former MP and ex-British Army officer Dr Mike Martin, for example, warned that conscription may well have to happen.

"Obviously if we got into a big war, we’d have conscription straight away," Dr Martin told Big Issue last year. "
If conscription were to happen, these would be the five groups most likely affected, reports the Express.

1. Young men age 18 to 25

Young men age 21 and 22 were conscripted even before war broke out in 1939. Later, the pool was widened to men aged between 18 and 41.

1. Single, childless people

During WWII, single people without children were drafted first in order to avoid disrupting families.

1. Women age 20 to 30

Women can't necessarily escape being conscripted. They've never been drafted into combat before, but in WWII, they took on many adjacent roles including nursing, munitions, and auxiliary positions. A recent YouGov poll found that almost three quarters (72%) of Brits support women serving on the frontlines.

1. Former soldiers

Former soldiers and reservists already have military skills, so they are high on the list of those who would be called upon.

1. Anyone aged up to 51

Aging out of the conscription bracket may not be an option. If a war were to go on a long time, older people may also be drafted. At the end of WWII, people aged up to 51 were being conscripted. Older people, aged 52 to 60, took on roles in civil defence as well.

https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/ww3-warning-five-groups-most-36520332#comments-wrapper

We moved to Sweden (DH's home country) from the UK 10 years ago. Last year all 2007 born children (young adults) were sent a compulsive 'national service' questionnaire. Obviously there physical and mental exemptions.

This week my two 18 year olds travelled 6 hours by train to Stockholm to a military facility to complete a series of tests. IQ, psychological and a physical. One failed the physical and the other has been giving a 9 months stint (could extend to 12/18 months) beginning the end of June after high school. Further education places will be put on hold.

As he was born in the UK he was asked questions like in the unlikely event on Sweden going to war with he UK how would you feel about it. Oddly, they asked him how he thought I would feel about it him fighting for Sweden.

Putting knows that our nuclear bombs are well past their sell by date and unlikely to work, hes the sort of psychopath who would happily allow large swathes of his country and population to be obliterated so long as he can be king of the smoking rubble.
Defending our country involves fighting overseas aswell as on home territory and as a citizen i would do so if necessary.
The question remains are YOU a coward or a citizen?

Putin is too bogged down in Ukraine right now to think seriously about attacking anywhere else, and his own military personnel would probably get rid of him if he tried. No point trying to gain control of the Baltic if you haven't even managed to secure the Black Sea yet.

By the time he gets around to invading a NATO country NATO won't even exist anymore, thanks to Trump, and the likelihood of PM Nigel Farage lifting a finger to defend any EU member state seems pretty low.

but their armoury isn’t any better is it? And they’re not exactly going to say “we’ve failed in Ukraine so we’ll move on to something nato instead. You know, see how much worse we can do.”
Anyway, this thread is clearly pure click bate.

I think that a lot has changed in the world since Trump became president.

The UK and NATO have spent the last several decades heavily relying on the US to do the heavy lifting when it comes to defence.

Trump has made it clear that America will no longer be doing this and that we need to invest significantly in standing on our own two feet militarily.

Whilst this is fair and true, it will take at least 5-10 years for the UK and NATO to get to this point. In the meantime, questions are being asked about whether or not Trump would come to the aid of NATO if the need arose.

I would welcome a year of national service and increased defence spending. We are toothless and having to brown-nose to Trump at the moment because all of our military capabilities are so tied up with America - i think we are realising a bit late in tbe day that that's been a mistake.

I totally ignore all the rubbish about war.

I agree re Putin being bogged down in Ukraine.

That's a depressing point about NATO. I hope not ..but otoh Farage & Trump are hardly predictable...

How old are you @Carla786?

Youngish I guess.

What's all this "are YOU are coward or a citizen?" Sounds like a line from a bad script.

The idea of buggering off to a 'neutral' country is poor.

There really isn't such a thing a a 'neutral country' really. Where do you think the Nazis washed all their ill-gotten gains?

(Clue, it was Switzerland).

Get off the internet

I know re Switzerland. I don't really think I'd want to live there for other reasons. I wouldn't mind NZ or Republic of Ireland potentially.

I know it's a poor idea. I hope I'd be brave enough in the event (which fingers crossed won't happen)..

I won't say exactly.. but uni age.

Its how I was brought up a coward runs and hides behind citizens, citizens fight to defend your country.
Every single generation of my family has served our country in 1 way or another.
@Carla786 wants to run away and hide behind the citizens of another country rather than defend her own please tell me how thats not cowardly?

This is a good point.

Putin might hopefully think twice about any grandiose plans of a new Russian Empire if the UK & the rest of NATO can show we can stand up to him without copious support from the US.

That's assuming they DO fail in Ukraine. I hope they do. But the outcome seems sadly pretty uncertain at the moment...

I don't like to say 'I knew it', but I did.

Ah, so, the world is complicated and glorious.

It's never black and white.

I lived in the RoI for five years, it's certainly not 'neutral' they have their own politics that are very aligned with Europe, the US and the UK in many ways.

And if the UK was going to get dragged into a worldwide conflict, Ireland would get dragged in, whether they like it or not.

HOWEVER!! If you are young and want to live somewhere good and independent minded, I'd look at Norway. Great country with the largest sovereign fund in the world, and they use it for good.

Thank you.

I don't really want to leave Britain at all, and I hope I would be brave enough to defend it if need be.

Re Ireland : I have asked MNHQ to change my title as I think it was badly phrased. It's more accurate to say, I was thinking of a country which would be less likely to be directly militarily involved if Russia attacked a NATO country like Lithunania, Poland etc. 'Neutral' and 'WW3' weren't very good descriptors.

The state of our nuclear deterrent is definitely worrying, though I think it's a bit hyperbolic to say it wouldn't be of any concern to Putin.

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/feb/21/labour-seeks-trident-assurances-after-missile-test-anomaly

Otoh while Putin is definitely extremely evil, I don't think he's a fully crazed megalomaniac. I don't think he plans a full takeover of Europe, more likely a reconstituted Russian empire.

If they've got down to me on the conscription list we're all doomed.

Interesting link from France.

https://www.economist.com/europe/2025/07/31/frances-top-general-says-russia-could-attack-in-five-years

Anyway, I'm signing off now. Will be interested to read any more replies tomorrow. Goodnight all, and thanks for all the replies!

A coward. Definitely a coward. I'd rather be at the centre of the strike and get it over and done with

No its not hyperbolic as we haven't upgraded them since trident and that was 1980. They still run on 1980s electronics and computers they still use original floppy discs ffs. They are well beyond obsolete

I’ve had my plans for almost a year now, thanks Trump! Ideally my parents and kids go to England. My husband and I argue about me going. I probably do. We have meeting points set for our own country and for England. I should update it to teaching my eldest the meet up points. If we don’t evacuate, I resist and he fights in an organized way/if the kids and grandparents are gone then I also join the army or official resistance.

Worst case we give big knives to our youngest and he goes full Reepacheep on the unsuspecting assholes.