However, views only differ on whether women should also serve, says Prof Ainė Ramonaitė of Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science (VU TSPMI).
The survey conducted by Vilnius University shows that as many as 46% of respondents believe that Lithuania needs to introduce permanent mandatory military service. Another 35.2% said they are more likely to approve of the initiative than disapprove.
“It revealed an absolute support for permanent mandatory service,” the professor told ELTA.
The political scientist noted argued that politicians’ disagreements on the actual model of universal conscription makes it also difficult for the population to form an opinion.
“Politicians themselves disagree on what the actual universal conscription could look like, whether it would be everyone being drafted after school or something else. Whether or not they [respondents] agree with it depends very much on a clear model of what is behind it. When we do not know these details, we cannot comment on how people imagine the drafting,” the professor commented.
Universal conscription has less support from left-wing parties, which ought to be the other way around, as the initiative would reduce social exclusion in the country, according to Ramonaitė.
“The army is precisely the place where all segments of society meet on equal playing field. There is mutual respect and awareness of one another. In an atmosphere of a divided society, this would be a very important thing, which could also affect the general solidarity of society,” she continued.
The majority of respondents do not support women’s military service, according to the survey.
Among those polled, 38.8% strongly opposed women’s conscription, while 27.2% rather opposed that. Only 22.3% of the population would approve of the idea.
“There is not so much support for women’s conscription. Young people are more positive about that, while older people have an understanding of different gender roles and do not see women in the army,” she said.