This summer's conscription was organized at the beginning of the year, for the first time on a lottery basis. 83 people out of 300 who were drawn have not responded. The reasons for this vary, including deliberate evasion. Currently, the penalty for this is up to €350, but the Ministry of Defense (MoD) will consider more severe sanctions.
On July 1 last year, 253 soldiers started their service, all of them volunteers. 245 of them finished last week and 111 new soldiers have signed a professional service contract.
The recruitment is organized twice a year. It applies to 18 and 19 year olds.
In preparation for the third conscription, there were not enough volunteers and in January this year the MoD organized a selection process in which 300 young people were randomly selected for the compulsory conscription in the relevant age group. They were sent summonses inviting them to medical examinations.
83, or more than a quarter, did not reply. This figure is a cause for concern and the Ministry is investigating the reasons.
These may be different: some young people do not have an e-address to receive mail from public authorities; some live abroad and have not been in contact with Latvia for a long time or do not live in their declared place of residence. In several cases, it is also deliberate avoidance of compulsory service. This is currently punishable by law with a fine of €350.
The question of whether the sanctions should be strengthened was discussed on Tuesday, June 4, in the Saeima Subcommittee on Comprehensive National Defense. Vitālijs Rakstiņš, Director of the State Defense Service Department of the MoD, said that there were several proposals:
"We also told the commission that the norm without sanctions is only a recommendation. At the same time, more indirect sanctions are also emerging. For example, it was mentioned that banks are considering perhaps not giving loans or requiring additional collateral for people who have not done compulsory military service.
"The short story is that there are more tools left in society to motivate in a positive way to do compulsory service. But we will also come up with new proposals on sanctions that can be improved on the basis of existing experience."
The Ministry of Defense promises proposals for improvements to the VAD admission procedure by autumn. One is for higher penalties in case of evasion, but also changes to health requirements so that young people who do not qualify for the VAD health requirements are not exempted from the service, for example, by redirecting them to the National Guard or finding other ways to train and use them for service.
Applications are now open for the fourth recruitment to the VAD in January next year.
If the required number of people is not reached, the lottery will be held again on July 17 to ensure the recruitment of 300 young people.
