Under the new amendments, the called up draftees would be from 19 to 26 years old (inclusive). However, according to National Defence Minister Juozas Olekas, volunteers for military conscription are welcome from 18 to 38 years old. The minister has also suggested making six lists (by region) of conscripts instead of just one.
The proposed amendments also provide for establishing an obligation for relatives and employers of a conscript to hand in call-up documents to the conscript if he cannot be found by authorities.
The draft laws say that military service is suspended for those conscripts who had been found guilty of intentional crimes and (or) those who had served a prison sentence.
Also, conscripts would be given a monetary incentive – both a monthly benefit and additional payments depending on the results of their service assessment. Volunteers would enjoy 25% higher monetary incentives.
Conscripts would be allowed to postpone their loan repayment, however, they would still be obligated to pay their interest.
Following the presentation, the proposed amendments were supported by 98 MPs with 1 abstention. The amendments will be further discussed at the Seimas committees.
