“The discussion on whether girls should also be drafted is not very easy, because there would be such a big cultural break in the minds of many here. Because of that, I would say that we can postpone that discussion for a later time,” said I. Šimonytė in an interview published on Tuesday for the LRT portal.
In mid-December, the Government of Lithuania approved the changes proposed by the Ministry of National Defense (KAM), which form the legal prerequisites for the implementation of universal male conscription. This will still have to be approved by the Seimas.
According to the Minister of National Defense, Arvydas Anušauskas, if the number of conscripts reached 5,000 per year, the existing resources of the army would be sufficient to train them, so it would not require much additional funding. However, increasing the number of soldiers and implementing universal conscription would require the creation of new military units.
According to A. Anušauskas, in order to call up to 7,000 people to military service per year. youth, four additional battalions need to be created. For that infrastructure, weapons, equipment, regarding 500 million should be allocated within five years. euros.
The general convocation began to be discussed following Ukraine, which is resisting the Russian invasion, failed to organize a quick successful counterattack and experts warned that Moscow, which is restoring its capabilities, may increase pressure on NATO in the future.
According to KAM, the full implementation of the universal call would take at least six years.
At that time, the Prime Minister said that it would take five years to train officers, create infrastructure, and purchase weapons.
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2024-07-04 23:20:16
