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Latvia revives compulsory military service in response to Russia's aggression in the EU
The Baltic nation of Latvia now plans to reinstate compulsory military service as tension continues to grow with Russia following its unprovoked invasion of its neighbor and former territory.
Artis Pabriks, Latvia’s Minister of Defense said, “The current military system of Latvia has reached its limit. Meanwhile, we have no reason to think that Russia will change its behavior.”
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">The Defense Minister of Latvia <a href="https://twitter.com/Pabriks?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@Pabriks</a> has stated that his ministry will propose for universal military service to be reinstated next year.<br><br>The plan is to double seize of the army and it is deemed that professional soldiers and volunteers won’t be enough.<br><br>🇱🇻 <a href="https://t.co/Ej19PJGyPb">pic.twitter.com/Ej19PJGyPb</a></p>— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) <a href="https://twitter.com/visegrad24/status/1544624995925630976?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">July 6, 2022</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Latvia was originally invited to begin accession talks about joining NATO in 2002 and officially became a member in March of 2004. A few years later in 2007, the small coastal country between Lithuania and Estonia abolished its requirement for mandatory military service.
Now, the European nation with a population of less than 2 million people, has an active duty and national guard force of 7,500 troops. They also have an additional 1,500 NATO troops supporting them and a shared border with Russia.
According to Pabriks, the mandatory military service would apply to men between the ages of 18 and 27 and would only require men to complete 11 months of service.
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Pabriks said that Parliament is expected to vote on this new requirement later this year. The mandatory service requirement would then go into effect before the end of winter early next year. It was reported that there would be multiple service options available for conscripts.
Some men might be allowed to complete their service in other state services or governmental ministries. Women will still be allowed to serve in the military voluntarily.
One national guard Soldier, Gatis Priede, called this announcement “the best news”. According to him, Latvia should have made the decision to make military service mandatory eight years ago after Moscow annexed Crimea.
“This is the right thing,” the Soldier said. “To train more reservists for our army and for overall NATO strength, which is still critically lacking in the northern European and Baltic region.”
Minister Pabriks also announced his country’s plan to build another military base closer to the Russian border, likely near the south-eastern city of Jēkabpils. This base would be a lot closer to the country’s biggest threat than their current military base in Ādaži.
