Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks announced on Tuesday that military service will become compulsory again, amid rising tensions with neighboring Russia and the war in Ukraine.
“Latvia’s current military system has reached its limits. At the same time, we have no reason to believe that Russia will change its behavior,” Mr Pabriks explained to the press.
Latvia abolished conscription after joining NATO. Since 2007, the army of the Baltic country, a member of the European Union, consists of professionals and volunteers of the National Guard, who serve in the Infantry on weekends.
The country, which has a population of less than two million and neighbors Belarus and Russia, currently has only 7,500 active-duty military and National Guard members, supported by about 1,500 North Atlantic Treaty Organization troops.
According to Mr Pabriks, military service, which will only apply to men, will become compulsory again from 2023.
Gattis Priende, a member of the National Guard, hailed the decision, “the best news,” which he said should have been made when Russia annexed the Crimean peninsula in 2014.
“It is the right thing: to train more reservists for our army and for NATO’s overall strength, which is still insufficient in the northern European and Baltic region,” he said.
Mr. Pabriks also announced that a military base will be built near the town of Yakabils (southeast), closer to the border with Russia than the current base in Andazi.
SOURCE: AMPE
Source: Capital
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