A NATO ally has “strongly recommended” that the UK introduces conscription and a Tory MP backs this to retain the “ability to mobilise much of the population at short notice.”
Latvia’s Foreign Minister said in an exclusive interview with The Telegraph that NATO allies must consider a “total defence” model whereby a large amount of a “citizen army” can be called up a short notice.
Latvia’s Foreign Minister Krisjanis Karins said it was “inevitable” the UK will have no choice but to increase the defence spending to 3% of Britain’s GDP.
Latvia calls up eligible men aged between 18 to 27-years old who must complete military basic training and have to serve for 11 months.
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Following the invasion of Ukraine Latvia reintroduced compulsory conscription as the country shares a 133-mile border with Russia.
Karins was asked if the UK and allies should consider their model, he said, “We would strongly recommend this. We are developing and fleshing out a system of what we call a total defence involving all parts of civil society.”
The Foreign Minister said that they took elements from the Finnish military conscription that “could be a very good model for many of us.”
He said that Finland has a small army “but a very large, very well-trained” reservists “so they can easily call up a 250,000 trained military.”
On Saturday Tobias Ellwood, a former minister and ex-chairman of the Commons defence committee said, “Visiting Finland recently, it was clear to see they have the most impressive ‘total defence’ model in NATO.
“Sitting on the West’s front line during the Cold War necessitated retaining the ability to mobilise much of the population at short notice.
“With Putin securing another six years in office and seeking to emulate Stalin and expand his influence, we too should be reviewing our total defence model.”
Karins said that Latvian conscripts are “folded into professional units” have three professionals for every new recruit, this therefore ensures “the newbie quickly learns.”
Ha added, “When they’re discharged, they have their full equipment, they have their unit, they go back to civilian life, they get called up on a regular basis to make sure their training is up to par.
“They would be useful in terms of an actual conflict.”
Karins said that the UK is “crucial” for helping with the security of the Baltic states and warned NATO will have to defend themselves “from the first square centimetre.”
The Latvian Foreign Minister said, “We need to plan and train and supply and plan and train and supply and make that visible to the Russians.
“We will not stop them from wanting to have imperialistic ambitions, but we can make sure they don’t consider coming our way.”
Karins warned Europe will be dealing with a dangerous Russia for a long time to come,” and said that Moscow “imperialistic ambitions” will outlive Putin, therefore it is “inevitable” that the UK will raise their defence spending as it is “a necessity.”
