Britain should use conscription to deter Russia, says Nato ally

Latvian foreign minister says UK and other members should follow his country in adopting Finnish model of national service

Britain should consider conscripting citizens into the military to deter Russian aggression, a key Nato ally has said.
In an exclusive interview with The Telegraph, Latvia’s foreign minister called on Nato countries to consider a “total defence” model in which large numbers of citizen-soldiers can be called up at short notice.
Krisjanis Karins also said it was “inevitable” that the UK would have to increase its defence spending to three per cent of GDP.
Latvia, which is on the frontline of Vladimir Putin’s confrontation with the West, shares a 133-mile border with Russia, and reintroduced conscription following the invasion of Ukraine. All able-bodied men aged 18 to 27 are required to complete 11 months of service.
In January, Gen Sir Patrick Sanders, the head of the British Army, said the military needed to be able to train and equip a “citizen army” if needed.
Asked whether the UK and other countries should look at the Latvian model, Mr Kariņs 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.”
Mr Karins, who until September was Latvia’s prime minister, said that his country had borrowed elements from the Finnish conscription system, which “could be a very good model for many of us”.
Finland has a small standing army “but a very large, very well-trained” war-time reserve “so they can easily call up a 250,000 trained military”.
Tobias Ellwood, a former minister and ex-chairman of the Commons defence committee, said on Saturday that the UK should take Mr Karins’ suggestion seriously.
“Visiting Finland recently, it was clear to see they have the most impressive ‘total defence’ model in Nato,” said Mr Ellwood. “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.”
However, Lord Dannatt, a former head of the Army, said Britain’s situation was significantly different from that in Latvia.
“From Latvia’s perspective so close to Russia, total defence makes complete sense,” he said. “For us, one step back, we should focus on total deterrence. We should increase our defence spending and capability to ensure that we deter war.”
Mr Karins said that in Latvia, after undergoing basic training, conscripts are “folded into professional units” with a ratio of three professionals to each new recruit, ensuring “the newbie quickly learns”.
“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,” he said.
Having the “proven elasticity” of being able to rapidly mobilise a citizen army “is what Russia needs to see”, he added.
The Latvian foreign minister said Britain was “crucial” to the security of the Baltic states and that Nato would defend itself “from the first square centimetre”.
“We need to plan and train and supply and plan and train and supply and make that visible to the Russians,” he said. “We will not stop them from wanting to have imperialistic ambitions, but we can make sure they don’t consider coming our way.”
Rishi Sunak is under pressure to increase defence spending. Last week, two of his ministers, Anne-Marie Trevelyan and Tom Tugendhat, wrote an article urging him to increase spending as a proportion of GDP from its current position of two per cent to “2.5 per cent and beyond”.
Three former Conservative defence secretaries have said a commitment to three per cent should be in the election manifesto, with the incumbent, Grant Shapps, also in favour.
Asked whether he would support the UK moving to 2.5 or three per cent, Mr Karins said: “I think it’s inevitable, and it is a necessity.”
He said Europe would have to deal with a “dangerous Russia for a long time to come”, predicting that the country’s “imperialistic ambitions” would outlive Putin.
A staunch supporter of Ukraine, Mr Karins said the country was at a “very tough portion in the war” and in urgent need of weapons and ammunition, but insisted: “They can win.”
Mr Karins said that if Ukraine were forced to negotiate now, Russia would simply use “peace to rearm in order to attack”, and played down the prospect of the US withdrawing support to Kyiv if Donald Trump is re-elected.
But he stressed that Europe needed to spend more on its collective defence to “alleviate” pressure on America as the US turned its gaze towards China.
He added that he did not think Mr Trump would try to pull the US out of Nato, saying: “Candidate Trump’s policy is making America great,” he said. I do not see within that policy how weakening the US military presence abroad would contribute to a greater America.”