“I hope that the wave will grow, and the young people – both male and female – will tell about their service to their friends, relatives, and it will be easier for others, as today a major obstacle was the experience of the parents of today’s young people, as they possibly did their service in the last years of the Soviet army. (…) Word of mouth information is the most efficient, and I believe that we will be able to generate the numbers of troops necessary to fill the military units from volunteers without the coercive mechanism – mandatory service,” Olekas told Žinių Radijas news radio on Thursday morning.
On Monday, the first 495 recruits are starting their mandatory initial military service at the Lithuanian Grand Duke Butigeidis Dragoon Battalion in Klaipėda after the country reintroduced the nine-month service.
The conscription system was reintroduced to fill the military units and develop a reserve. A total of 3,000 people will be conscripted this year, while many will join voluntarily.
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