Lithuania generates annual list of 5,000 people drafted for military conscription

Lithuania has compiled a list of 5,000 people drafted for military conscription this year after it reinstated mandatory conscription over ten years ago because of regional security concerns. 

Each January, the Military Conscription and Recruitment Service randomly selects eligible men using an electronic system, with oversight from public observers. 

This list is alongside the mandatory service for male citizens aged 18 to 23. 

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Vilnius is attempting to recruit more than 6,000 young people annually for compulsory service from 2027. 

BFBS Forces News reporter Simon Newton visited Lithuania at the end of last year to see how the country is adapting to the increasingly unstable world environment following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022. 

Mr Newton found a country gearing up for a possible conflict right on Putin's doorstep as Vilnius has asked the EU to invest in a vast defensive line traversing its border with Russia and Belarus. 

The defences would be 30 miles deep and include anti-tank ditches, minefields, trenches and bridges ready for destruction. 

There will also be thousands of concrete obstacles and hundreds of miles of razor wire by next year. 

Besides conscripts, Lithuania has amassed an army of 23,000 and is building a paramilitary force, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union, a volunteer militia created at the end of the First World War. 

The Lithuanian Riflemen's Union currently has 14,000 members ranging from teenagers to OAPs. 

The country is one of multiple within the EU to have compulsory military service; others include Austria, Cyprus, Croatia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Greece, Latvia, and Sweden. 

One of its neighbours, Poland, has announced a policy of voluntary military training called "wGotowości" (Readiness). 

The training will look at first aid, survival skills, cyber and the basics of security, and will be completed over a day on weekends. 

Polish prime minister Donald Tusk revealed that he wants to train 100,000 volunteers a year within two years. 

You can watch Simon Newton's full documentary, On Putin's doorstep: When the Russian war machine is your next-door neighbour, on BFBS Forces News' YouTube channel.