The Commander of the Lithuanian Armed Forces, Raimundas Vaikšnoras, has stated that there is no current need to implement mandatory military service for women in Lithuania.
Vaikšnoras emphasized that the priority should be to fully utilize the existing pool of men and ensure the proper conditions for them to fulfill their service obligations.
“We still have a significant reserve of young men who, for various reasons, are unable to fulfill this duty… Let’s create conditions so that every young man can serve and perform his duty to the homeland,” Vaikšnoras said.
He also reiterated that women can still voluntarily join the military. “But do we need to conscript women today? I would say — let’s first use the resources we have, and then we can think about it,” he added.
Currently, women make up 10% of the Lithuanian army, serving in various roles from privates to officers.
