Reinstating conscription in Lithuania: bringing society back into defence?

LTReikšminiai žodžiai: Apsauga; Grąžinimas; Karo prievolė; Visuomenė; Consription; Defence; Lithuania; Reinstoling; Society.

ENIn 2015, with the security environment on NATO’s eastern frontiers deteriorating as a result of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, Lithuania made a rather sudden and dramatic decision to resume the mandatory military draft and thus return to the two-tier (mixed conscript and contract military personnel) force format for the Lithuanian Armed Forces. Hailed as a sign of the state and society finally rising to meet the potential of Russia’s military challenge, this decision went against a well-established post-Cold War trend in Europe and drew the attention of those studying the factors behind the defence policy decision to change the format of the armed forces. This article aims to explore the drivers – and also inhibitors – of Lithuania’s decision, mainly from the perspective of defence policymaking and societal debate. It gives an overview of the overall trend in Europe and establishes how Lithuania’s decision to suspend conscription in 2008 aligned with it. The article goes on to more closely examine the consequences and problems created by this change in Lithuania, followed by a closer look at how the country arrived at the decision to reinstate conscription and how society responded. It closes with an attempt to draw some more conceptual lessons from this interesting case, which still stands as one of very few contemporary examples – some others being Georgia and, more recently, Sweden – of bringing society back into a tight embrace with defence, and vice versa. [Extract, p. 33]