If Russia launches an attack so sudden that NATO can't stop it, the defense minister of Latvia wants to bring back compulsory military service.
In 2007, the compulsory service was ended by Latvia, a NATO and EU member state.
Artis Pabriks, the Defence Minister, said earlier this month that there would be a re-introduction of the service for 18 to 27 year olds. The president of Latvia supports the move.
In an interview with Insider, Pabriks said that more citizens need military training because the country is expecting an attack from Russia.
NATO's defenses might not be prepared to stop a Russian attack if the intelligence is correct.
Pabriks said that the first challenge is coming from a very quick attack from Russia.
How many forces Russia can gather at our borders within a day or two has been calculated by us. NATO will need a certain amount of time to reflect on that, so we need to be prepared to defend our territory.
NATO's charter states that an attack on one member state is treated as an attack on all, meaning other nations would come to the defense of Latvia.
As a result of the Russian attack, Pabriks said that Latvia needs to increase its own defense.
He said that they were prepared to do anything to not repeat the history lessons of when the Soviet Union occupied us.
We need to appear strong. We must be able to fight back. We are prepared because we are not going to live under this foreign rule and occupation like our ancestors.
The new legislation needs to be approved by the parliament.
The first 500 people will be able to enter the service in January 2023, if this passes this year.
The first group of people to volunteer would be required to do 11 months of service.
Three months of basic training, three months of a specialty course, and five months of integration into units and collective training are included in the 11 months.
The defense ministry said that they would get a monthly salary of up to 400 euros.
The plan is popular among most of the people, according to Pabriks.
The need to bring back mandatory military service was demonstrated by the invasion of Ukraine.
Russia will remain an unreliable neighbor for the next decade regardless of whether Russia wins or loses in Ukraine.
Russia has claimed that it is justified in invading Ukraine because it was once part of the Soviet Union.
Pabriks said thatUkraine gives them time to prepare. While Ukrainians are fighting, I am sorry to say that we can as well.
Pabriks said the service would act as a deterrent to Russia and bolster the military of Latvia.
Russian's are not insane. He said that they will see that we are prepared to defend.
If there is a disaster, we would have enough strength to stand up for our freedom.
"Anything could happen, because this imperial country never gave up these ambitions," Pabriks said.
Latvia is one of the Baltic countries that Russia has treated vaguely. Russia said in April that it would put nuclear weapons in the Baltic region, and that it was practicing missile attacks against it.
In the wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Latvia's neighbors have stepped up their defense.
The military draft ended 15 years ago but Pabriks doesn't think it will happen again.
He said that the frontier is crossed. We will not let it go.
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