Kasčiūnas defends Kaunas candidate and backs 2030 conscription

Conservative leader Laurynas Kasčiūnas defended the party’s choice of Šarūnas Jasiukevičius as its candidate for Kaunas mayor and said mandatory military service could begin in 2030, LRT reported.

Speaking at the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats party congress on Saturday, Kasčiūnas said the party would initiate a vote on introducing universal conscription in Lithuania. He said 2030 would provide an adequate period for preparation.

The proposal has not been coordinated with the governing Social Democrats, who tend to support a professional army, Kasčiūnas acknowledged. He said universal conscription was part of the broader principle of universal defence, which he called vital for countries such as Lithuania.

Kasčiūnas also argued that military service encourages people to defend their country. He cited sociological research that, he said, showed people who had served in the army were more likely to develop a desire to defend the state.

A survey commissioned by the Universal Defence Association and presented last week found that almost 80 percent of Lithuania’s population supported introducing universal conscription. Representatives of the military, however, have said that the current number of conscripts is sufficient.

Kasčiūnas did not disclose the party’s candidates for mayor of Vilnius and Klaipėda in the upcoming municipal elections.

He defended the decision to nominate Jasiukevičius in Kaunas after former party leader Gabrielius Landsbergis criticised the move, saying it could polarise society and the party and indicate that the Homeland Union Lithuanian Christian Democrats were moving towards the far right.

Kasčiūnas described Jasiukevičius as a public figure known for activism in support of Ukraine in its war with Russia. He said Jasiukevičius won 70 percent of the vote in open primary elections in Kaunas, in which five candidates took part.

“Everyone has opinions, everyone makes their own decisions,” Kasčiūnas said. He added that the people of Kaunas had chosen Jasiukevičius and that he could be a serious challenger to the incumbent mayor.

The party leader said the conservatives aimed to receive the most votes for party lists in the municipal elections and overtake the Social Democrats.

He said the conservatives lost to the Social Democrats by 20,000 votes in the 2023 municipal elections. Kasčiūnas also noted that the Social Democrats won 370 council seats across Lithuania in those elections, compared with 240 for the conservatives, and said he expected the gap to narrow.

Kasčiūnas said the conservatives were stronger in the major cities, while the Social Democrats were stronger in smaller districts.