Latvia brings back military conscription

The Latvian parliament or Saeima on April 5 passed a law gradually reinstating military conscription in the Baltic republic 16 years after abandoning obligatory service in favor of professional volunteer armed forces in 2007.

The Law on the State Defense Service, adopted by a vote of 68 to 11 in the 100-member Saeima, foresees the first voluntary recruitment of young people into armed services this summer. The drafting of the law started last year after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Under the law male Latvian citizens will be subject to national defense service within one year after reaching the age of 18. Men who continue to receive education after the age of 18, except for those in higher education, will be subject to the national defense service within one year after graduating from an educational institution.

When it was first proposed last year, Artis Pabriks, Minister of Defense at the time, said that the purpose of conscription was Pabriks to boost the strength of the Latvian armed forces to around 50 000 active duty, ready reserve and National Guard troops, a level necessary for Latvia to defend itself side-by-side with a planned NATO brigade to be permanently stationed in the country.

Women to be exempt from conscription, may volunteer

The law says that women — from the age of 18 to the age of 27 — may voluntarily apply for military service but will not be subject to conscription. Women were excluded from the new law despite…