“Latvia’s current military system has reached its limits. Meanwhile, we have no reason to believe that Russia will change its behavior,” Latvian Defense Minister Artis Pabriks told reporters on Tuesday. Latvia had abolished conscription a few years after joining the NATO military alliance. Since 2007, the EU member’s army has been made up of career soldiers alongside national guard volunteers who serve in the infantry part-time on weekends. The country of fewer than 2 million people, which borders Belarus and Russia, has only 7,500 active-duty soldiers and members of the national guard, supported by 1,500 NATO troops. Pabriks said the mandatory military service requirement would only apply to men and would take effect next year, with several options available. Gatis Priede, a national guard soldier, called the move “the best news” and said the decision should have been made after Russia annexed Crimea in 2014. “This is the right thing – to train more reservists for the army us and for NATO’s overall strength, which is still largely lacking in the Northern Europe and Baltic region,” he said. Pabriks also announced plans to build another military base near the southeastern town of Jēkabpils, which is closer to the Russian border than its existing base in Ādaži.
