Lithuania considers bringing universal conscription forward

LRT reported that a presidentially led National Universal Defence Coordination Council will ask the State Defence Council to have the Ministry of National Defence and the Lithuanian Armed Forces assess whether universal conscription can be accelerated.

Presidential adviser Marius Česnulevičius said on Thursday that the assessment should be prepared over the next few months. The current plan envisages conscription becoming more or less universal by around 2035.

He said a decision on whether Lithuania could organise universal conscription by 2030 could be made by the end of this year, provided the State Defence Council supports the proposal.

Meanwhile, 63 organisations signed a charter at the Presidential Palace committing themselves to supporting universal defence initiatives, public preparedness and the legalisation of universal conscription by 2030.

“We must create our own model of universal defence, and we can do it in a Lithuanian way, quickly, practically and by working together,” said Tomаs Godliauskas, the initiative’s author.

The charter states that Lithuania’s security and society’s resilience are a shared responsibility of the state, organisations operating in the country and citizens.

By signing it, the organisations pledged to strengthen their employees’ preparedness for emergencies and hold at least one crisis-management or civil-protection exercise each year. They also committed to organising first-aid training and enabling employees to prepare independently for the first 72 hours of a crisis or war.

The charter describes universal conscription as a fundamental element of universal defence, contributing to preparedness, deterrence, social inclusion and economic prosperity. The signatories support setting 2030 as the legal deadline for introducing universal conscription in Lithuania.

Sigitas Dimaitis, director of the Lithuanian Chamber of Agriculture, said food security was also part of national defence.

Rūta Kačkutė, director general of the Lithuanian National Museum, said the institution joined the charter because it wanted to do more to protect the country’s heritage, which she described as a guarantee of statehood.