Lithuania restores military conscription

Ukraine fears prompt move that will see nine months service for men aged 19 to 27 years

Lithuania has decided to restore compulsory military service for young men as tensions in Ukraine continue to worry the small Baltic nation.

After a meeting of military leaders and top government officials, president Dalia Grybauskaite said the measure was necessary because of "growing aggression" in Ukraine.

“Today’s geopolitical environment requires us to strengthen the army, and do it as fast as possible,” Ms Grybauskaite said after a meeting of the country’s defence council.

Military officials said Lithuania will reinstate national service for five years starting in September, when it will enlist some 3,000 men, aged between 19 and 27. They will serve for nine months.

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General Jonas Vytautas, the defence chief, says a lack of soldiers posed a "real threat" to national security.

Lithuania, like its Baltic neighbours Latvia and Estonia, was occupied for five decades by the Soviet Union before regaining independence in 1991. It abolished conscription in 2008, four years after joining Nato.

The Baltic states are concerned that Russian annexation of Crimea and support for rebels in east Ukraine may be a foretaste of it reasserting itself in other former Soviet territories.

Latvia’s defence minister has suggested increasing army numbers by 2,000 to 7,000 men, but there are no plans to introduce the draft. Estonia has maintained conscription.

Lithuania’s new conscription would include exemptions for certain categories, such as university students and single fathers and would recruit around 3,500 men per year. It would be up for renewal after a 5-year period.

Lithuania's parliament still needs to approve the plan. The country borders the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad where Moscow carried out a military drill in December with 9,000 soldiers and more than 55 naval vessels.

Nato has increased the number of fighter planes patrolling the Baltic skies, intensified military drills and agreed to set up command centres there to protect the region in the event of any threat from Russia.