Lithuania has presented its 2026 draft plan as bloc\u2019s European militarization ramps up<\/p>\n
Lithuania has unveiled an expanded conscription plan that will run year-round from 2026, becoming the latest NATO member to ramp up mandatory service as the bloc intensifies militarization across Europe.
\nThe expanded plan will allow for young people to be called up straight after high school, with fitness for service assessed at 17 years of age through mandatory health checks. The Baltic state restored compulsory military service in 2015 after a seven-year suspension and later made the draft permanent.
\nThe Lithuanian Armed Forces say they intend to call up about 5,000 people, mostly for nine-month mandatory service, with smaller intakes assigned to shorter specialist terms, junior officer training, and multi-year part-time basic training.
\n\u201cThe 2026 conscription is a targeted step in strengthening our state\u2019s defense,\u201d the statement said, adding that military readiness is a \u201ckey\u201d priority in \u201ctoday\u2019s security environment.\u201d
\nSince the escalation of the Ukraine conflict in 2022, EU and NATO countries have been reviving or expanding conscription in response to what they describe as a Russian threat \u2013 a claim Moscow denies.
\nThe Kremlin has dismissed allegations of hostile intent toward Western nations as \u201cnonsense\u201d and fearmongering and condemned what it calls the West\u2019s \u201creckless militarization.\u201d<\/p>\n
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NATO member reinstates conscription<\/p>\n
Sweden brought back the draft in 2017, while Croatia voted in October to reinstate compulsory service after a 17-year hiatus. Latvia has announced plans to extend the draft to women by 2028 while Estonia and Finland have increased annual recruitment.
\nEuropean NATO members have also agreed to boost military spending to 5% of GDP, earlier this year, with Lithuania recently approving a record military budget proposal of \u20ac4.79 billion ($5.6 billion) for 2026 \u2013 about 5.38% of GDP.
\nMoscow has also criticized Western arms deliveries to Ukraine, arguing they only prolong the fighting and increase casualties without changing the outcome of the conflict. Some Russian officials have described the Ukraine conflict as a NATO proxy war against Russia.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lithuania has presented its 2026 draft plan as bloc\u2019s European militarization ramps up Lithuania has unveiled an expanded conscription plan that will run year-round from 2026, becoming the latest NATO…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":23671,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-23670","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t