Godliauskas questions 2032 target for universal conscription

Tomas Godliauskas says he has not heard arguments for choosing 2032 as the start date for universal conscription of men, LRT reported. The director of the Visuotinė gynyba association said the timeline matters because it requires action, resource planning and a defined result.

The State Defence Council agreed on Thursday to introduce universal conscription of men from 2032. In an interview on LRT’s Dienos tema programme, former defence minister Dovilė Šakalienė said the timetable seemed long, while noting that the military needed enough training infrastructure, officers and instructors.

Šakalienė said temporary measures could help call up more young men sooner. One option discussed was buying tents and using military areas to host temporary camps. She said she wanted Lithuania to be able to call up at least 6,000 conscripts as soon as possible.

Current annual call-ups total about 4,700 to 5,000, according to Šakalienė. The interviewer said the defence minister’s order set the figure at just over 5,000, or 5,300. Šakalienė welcomed the increase but said it was not enough.

The interviewer said the president had outlined a plan to increase annual call-ups by several hundred each year, reaching 7,500 in 2032. Godliauskas said that figure did not convince him, noting that more than 20,000 young people aged 18 to 22 fall within the conscription-age cohort. He said the gap could not be explained solely by demographics, health or other factors.

Godliauskas said planning should aim to call up all eligible people in a given year, which he estimated would mean more than 15,000 young people who had finished school, with an additional number potentially coming from women who volunteer. He said universal conscription should cover both men and women, and that 2032 should mark the point when women participate fully.