Latvia’s first batch of military recruits will complete their 11-month training at the end of May. The three volunteer soldiers explain to Euronews why they accepted conscription and whether they feel ready to defend their Baltic homeland against possible Russian aggression.
The dynamics of war
It was the incessant flow of information on Edvards Puharts’ iPhone that pushed him to sign up for the military conscription reintroduced in Latvia. “I was panicked,” explains the 20-year-old young man to Euronews. “I would open my phone and read what was happening in Ukraine and I was stressed thinking that they were going to overtake Ukraine and enter our country.”
In November 2022, the Salkristi resident decided to put an end to his anxiety. Puharts signed up for Latvia’s reintroduced voluntary military conscription, thinking it would calm him down “about everything that happens”.
Eleven months later, he says it worked. “You begin to understand how the army works, what the personnel do. You understand the dynamics of war”, explains Mr. Puharts. “It helped me understand that it’s not as simple as invading one country through another.”
Around 250 volunteers national armed forces will officially complete their training of almost a year at the Ādaži camp, located in the forest, on May 31. Mr Puharts and two of his colleagues chose to speak to Euronews about their military experience, explaining why they swapped their twenties for army fatigues and what their plans are after their service.
The most important condition for survival
Latvia has an intermittent relationship with military conscription, but has recently reimposed this defensive strategy due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This small Baltic country was annexed by the Soviet Union until its collapse in 1991. Today, from many Latvians fear a revisionist Russia. In July 2022, Latvian lawmakers announced their intention to require all men aged 18 to 27 years to follow 11 months of military training.
Defense Minister Artis Pabriks said on “The greater the number of military personnel prepared and trained, the less likely it will be that Russia will want to direct its military aggression against Latvia,” he wrote.
Latvia abandoned its decades-old policy of military conscription in 2006, after joining NATO. A researcher of Center for European Policy Analysis said the country had abandoned this policy because the alliance’s treaty was “particularly reassuring”.
The situation reversed when Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022 prompted policymakers to consider reimposing the service. Public support has also grown. A study found that 60 percent of respondents believed conscription was crucial to Latvia’s defense, as the country shares a 200-kilometer border with Russia.
There national defense service law was signed into law by Latvian President Egils Levits in April 2023. The document states that Latvian male citizens must be “prepared to perform national defense tasks” and are “required” to perform national defense service. Men and women can also volunteer.
Associate Professor Toms Rostoks teaches international relations and foreign policy at the University of Latvia. He is also the director of the Center for Security and Strategic Research at the Latvian National Defense Academy in Riga. The institution was founded in 1992 to provide higher military education, but has recently evolved to train the latest generation of voluntary conscripts.
Mr Rostoks explains that after the government announced the renewal of the conscription policy, an “influx of volunteers” joined the National Guard. This meant that the government did not need to conscript eligible men. “A few thousand people have joined the ranks”he specifies.
Although Rostoks says the recruits’ training went without many problems, “real challenges” will present themselves later. Infrastructure must be built to accommodate the growing number of conscripts – several hundred each year. There could also be an attitude problem, as individuals will not volunteer.
“This is a problem that all countries that have adopted conscription have faced”explains Mr. Rostoks. “Every year the army will call up a few thousand young people, and the challenge will then be to provide quality infrastructure and training to ensure that they learn something useful.”
According to Rostoks figures, only a third of volunteers will stay after May 31 and sign five-year contracts. Orests Rullis is one of them.
We get through the tough days together.”
If Orests Rullis, 21, wants to climb the ranks of the army, it is because of the discipline it offers. “Leadership was new to me, and the military really gave it to me”, he explains. The Riga resident, who enjoys running, lifting weights and getting his heart rate up to 200 BPM, says the possibility of his country being invaded by Russia played an important role in his desire to volunteer.
And although he’s still worried, the early mornings, strategy drills and grueling obstacle courses have calmed his nerves. “When I’m here, I see that everything is planned”he said. “I am convinced that we can defend ourselves.”
In April, the Latvian Parliament approved spending 1.1 billion euros (2.4% of GDP) on the army in 2024, which is expected to rise to 1.4 billion in 2027. Part of this money will be used to guarantee a “comprehensive” state defense service and to “improve” the reservist system of the national armed forces, according to the budget documents.
A Defense Ministry spokesperson confirmed the figures, but added that an additional €1 billion would be injected into the air defense program as a separate budget item.
ADVERTISEMENTBut spending is not the only objective. The government also wants to increase the number of recruitments.
About 1,040 people will be enlisted next yearincluding 210 in January and 830 in July. The aim is to increase this figure from year to year, reaching 1,580 in 2026 and 2,800 in 2027.
“Our preparation is the most effective deterrent”, says the spokesperson. The Kremlin’s mercurial attitude toward the Baltics — made worse by reports that Russia was considering redesigning maritime territorial borders — strengthened the resolve of the Latvian army.
“Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine has jeopardized Euro-Atlantic security and peace, strengthening NATO which must ensure that its deterrence and defense system remains credible and effective”declares the spokesperson. “NATO, the Baltic States and Latvia are preparing for a wide range of scenarios to ensure our ability to respond to possible threats as effectively as possible.”
According to the army spokesperson, the country’s military power rests on two pillars: strengthening the defense infrastructure and strengthening “societal will”. Former pacifist Gus Pētersons was convinced to join the front lines by watching the news in 2022.
ADVERTISEMENT“I felt like I had to do something.”
Born in Karki, volunteer Gus Pētersons described himself as a “pacifist” before Russia invaded Ukraine. The incessant carousel of news describing the “obscene” invasion — which the United Nations has called war crimes — prevented this graduate in econometrics and quantitative economics from doing “normal things,” he says. So he enrolled in voluntary military training. “I realized that it was the best way to calm my fear,” he says.
Although the former pacifist says his family does not support him in his temporary military career, today he enthusiastically shares his greatest pride in the National Guard: the march of the berets. As part of the grueling annual exercise, he and the other recruits crossed 50 kilometers of regional terrain in 24 hours and carried out tactical tasks. To Mr. Peterson, it looked like a “movie.”
At the end of May, he will abandon the fatigues for a civilian job. Violence is a tool to achieve certain results, Pētersons says, but it is not the path he envisions for himself. However, he says the training eased his anxiety. “I feel great, it’s calmed my gut and my mind,” says Pētersons.
