Robin Dussenne // Photo credit: Gints Ivuskans / AFP
modified to
07:03, March 19, 2024
Twenty years later, Latvia decided to reinstate compulsory military service for men aged 18 to 27, in this country of 1.9 million inhabitants which shares a border with Russia and Belarus, an ally of the Kremlin. Europe 1 went to the heart of the Adazi military base, around thirty kilometers from Riga.
Latvia’s Parliament has decided to reinstate compulsory military service for men aged 18 to 27. A decision motivated by the tense context in the region due to the war in Ukraine and the fact that the country shares its borders with Russia and Belarus. In the Adazi base, the young soldiers are preparing.
“The same thing could happen to us.”
Last tidying up and last texts before a nighttime exploration operation. There are 250 of them, all volunteers, who have joined the ranks of the army. Among these young soldiers, Karlis, who has just passed his baccalaureate: “I never imagined military service as an option. If you had told me at 17 that two years later, I would be in the army, I wouldn’t have believed it. It’s a bit strange.”
In Latvia, the Russian invasion of Ukraine left its mark, so Kristers takes the threat very seriously: “The same thing could happen to us. That’s why it seemed obligatory for me to join the ranks. We are a piece of the puzzle, it’s together that we can make the difference.”
At the end of their 11-month military training, the conscripts will join the operational reserve, with serious consequences in the event of war. A possibility of which Edvards is aware: “When the hour arrives, I will be called and I will be ready to defend my land that I love so much”. In any case, the Minister of Defense succeeded in his seduction operation: almost 40% of new recruits signed a contract with the Latvian Armed Forces.