Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said Wednesday that professional military personnel should be the main contingent of the republic's national armed forces, but a partial resumption of compulsory military service could be considered
RIGA (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 02nd February, 2022) Latvian Prime Minister Krisjanis Karins said Wednesday that professional military personnel should be the main contingent of the republic's national armed forces, but a partial resumption of compulsory military service could be considered.
"It may be worth considering partial draft, increasing the number of reservists and the Latvian National Guard soldiers among the ways to get the people and the young people involved in building up the defense capacities," the prime minister told reporters.
At the same time, he said that the professional soldiers, "well-trained, very effective, combat-ready soldiers," should remain "the core" of the Latvian National Armed Forces.
"But the more residents and young people we could train and involve, the better it would be," Karins said.
The country's chief of defense, Lt. Gen. Leonids Kalniņs, said, regarding this idea, that he was against restoring the compulsory service.
"We live in a democratic country, so there is no ban on discussing this topic, but I do not support (this.) If we created the state of Latvia voluntarily, we should defend it as volunteers," Kalniņs told reporters.
The combination of professional soldiers and the Latvian National Guard, which is made up of volunteers, is the only option for Latvia if it wants to have high quality armed forces and "the ability to quickly ensure the defense of the country," Kalnins said.
Latvia abandoned compulsory military service before joining NATO in 2004. Latvia's armed forces include 6,600 professional service soldiers, over 8,000 national guards and 3,000 reserve soldiers.
