Kasčiūnas proposes universal conscription from 2030
Tuesday 27th October 2026 on 10:01 in
Lithuania
Laurynas Kasčiūnas, leader of the opposition Homeland Union-Lithuanian Christian Democrats, has proposed introducing universal conscription from 1 January 2030. LRT reported that he and most members of his party’s parliamentary group registered draft amendments on Tuesday.
The proposals would replace selection based on an annual conscription quota with a call-up of all eligible people listed in the annual register of military conscripts. Those exempt from service or granted an individual deferral would not be called up, nor would students in their final year of certain programmes leading to professions in short supply in the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
Under the proposals, only men would be conscripted. Women could volunteer, and the existing provisions for alternative military service would remain. The maximum number of conscripts serving would match the number called up that year.
Kasčiūnas said the system should be adapted to the needs of modern warfare, including by creating training programmes for drone operators that may not require the same level of physical preparation as traditional service. He said other capabilities could also be developed more flexibly, rather than sending everyone to barracks through the same process.
He said the first step should be to review the conscription model and then assess the cost. If the country is not ready to move to universal conscription by 2030, the transition period could be extended, he said, but the law should set a clear date for the change.
Kasčiūnas acknowledged that his party did not introduce universal conscription when it was the main governing party in the previous parliamentary term. He said it had instead approved changes allowing more conscripts to be called up and established a system of military commandant offices.
The report said the VGT would propose speeding up the introduction. In an interview with BNS, army commander Raimundas Vaikšnoras said the military aims to call up “almost everyone who wants and is able” by 2030, reaching 7,000 to 8,000 conscripts through various forms of service.
Lithuania’s compulsory initial military service lasts nine months. This year, options were introduced to complete it in three, six or nine months.