Baltics call Europe to prepare for war
Lithuania introduced compulsory military service. The law will take effect from 2026.

According to the law adopted by the Sejm, young men who have reached the age of 18 will have to report to the military registration and enlistment office after graduating from school to undergo compulsory military service. The period is nine months. Before this, at the age of 17, a medical board will test teenagers for suitability for service. The first medical examinations will take place next year, and they will begin to serve in 2026, when the reform comes into force.

Politicians are divided about the feasibility. Conservative Paul Saudarg claimed that already a few years ago it was realized that the professional army could not defend the entire state. The principle of universal defense must begin with the expansion of the armed forces and the transition to universal conscription or an increase in the marginal number.

Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, for her part, claimed that a professional army needs more funds. Thus, this law is a reconciliation between the regular army and the general conscription.

In winter, the Baltic countries announced that they would begin to build a “defense line” on the border with russia.
According to some NATO calculations Putin could attack the eastern flank in the next five to eight years - namely Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia. Baltic leaders urged other European countries to return to “cold war-era spending” levels and should discuss the return of compulsory military service to boost defence forces’ manpower, due to the increasing russian threat.

Rinkēvičs acknowledged that military chiefs preferred to have fully professional forces and that compulsory service might prove unpopular. But armed forces across Europe faced recruitment difficulties and conscription would help build up more capable reserve forces to deter russia.

“Nobody wants to fight,” Rinkēvičs said. “But the problem is nobody wants to be invaded as well. And nobody wants to see Ukraine happening here.”

Currently several European countries are considering options of military service models.

@freerussia_report