The survey has also revealed that 81% of residents support the idea of universal conscription of men to the military service. However, 27% rather oppose and 38.8% strongly oppose universal conscription of women.
Commenting about survey results to the public radio LRT, Ainė Ramonaitė, lecturer at Vilnius University Institute of International Relations and Political Science (VUTSPMI), said that just 19% of respondents would leave Lithuania in case of war, while 17% were undecided what they would do.
“The majority plan to stay in case of war. This was surprising because many people witnessed Ukraine’s situation, how many were forced to leave. This suggest that the reply was not impulsive, people had time to consider,” she said.
According to Ramonaitė, survey results have improved compared with 2017 but not when comparing with early 2022.
Associate Professor Deividas Šlekys in turn said that a third of citizens ready to take up arms to defend Lithuania is a substantial percentage.
“I see the glass half full rather than half empty. Converting 30% to the number of people, this is a lot.
And, remember, when one goes to fight it takes 6-7 people to sustain that individual. If a third of us take up arms, it would take a good third or even two thirds to provide other services. If we maintain such proportions but improve competences, we will have a good package of resistance,” he told LRT.
