The Seimas undertook the amendments necessary for the functioning of the commandantar system

After submission of such and such amendments to the Law on the Organization of the National Defense System and Military Service, 51 members of the Seimas, there were no votes against, 12 abstained.

The amendments to the law envisage the possibility of conscripts from the prepared reserve who are not assigned to the active reserve and the unprepared reserve – civically and patriotically minded persons who want to contribute to the defense of the state in specific residential areas familiar to them.

This exercise would last up to 10 days a year.

According to the plan presented by the Ministry of National Defense (KAM) a little earlier, these groups – soldiers of the prepared reserve and patriotic people – together with the commandant riflemen of the Lithuanian Rifle Association, would be integrated into commandant units. In peacetime, their military training would be ensured by the National Defense Volunteer Forces. It is planned to establish 27 commandant offices in Lithuania.

“These amendments are completely sufficient, because they address the issue of inviting the prepared reserve to curfew exercises, as well as the unprepared reserve – people who are now registering for curfews,” the Minister of Defense told reporters in the Seimas on Thursday.

While still the chairman of the National Security and Defense Committee of the Seimas, L. Kasčiūnas proposed legalizing commandant offices by law. But now he says that’s not necessary.

“The question of the operation of commandantaries in peacetime need not necessarily be a question of law. This may be a matter of by-laws, said the minister. – The military recruitment services, of which there are now 27 in Lithuania, will become the military recruitment and commandant offices. This does not require any legislative changes, it can be done through internal changes.”

L. Kasčiūnas said that he took the decision to legalize them at the time, in order to encourage the party colleague Arvydas Anušauskas, the minister at the time, to act.

“At that time, we faced a certain inertia, I don’t want to do that. (…) That’s why I used various means to set this process in motion,” explained the politician.

Active people belonging to the unprepared reserve are invited to register at the commandant offices from the beginning of May. According to the Ministry of Internal Affairs, about 2.9 thousand people have already expressed their desire to engage in such activities. people.

In total, it is planned that there will also be 10.6 thousand people in commandant offices. prepared reserve soldiers, about 2 thousand shooters, 800 KASP volunteers.

During the war, the commandant unit has the following functions: fight against illegal armed groups, protection of important objects and infrastructure, installation of checkpoints and ensuring evacuation processes, monitoring of the information environment.

It is planned to start staffing commandants from October. The Ministry indicates that additional funding for this project will not be needed for the time being, it will be implemented from internal resources.