„What we are still working on is the implementation plan for the Strategy. We have to be very frank here and admit that we have not yet approved the plan. Perhaps this is one of the reflections of how the national defence system and other institutions have managed to get involved. What is the attitude towards this project“, Ž. Tomkus said on the occasion of the meeting of the National Security Committee (NSC) on Wednesday.
„I hope that April will be the last month and we will find those points of contact and agree on the implementation of the roadmap itself. This is the formal part, which so far reflects our fragmentation and the level of involvement of different institutions. I would like to see not only the involvement of the national defence system but also the involvement of other institutions and their contribution to the implementation of the Strategy of training citizens for civil resistance,“ explained the Vice-Minister.
However, despite the stalling processes, the member of the leadership of the Ministry of National Defence (MND) noted that some progress has been made since May last year. For example, specialised training has been conducted for various groups of society and representatives of non-governmental organisations (NGOs).
According to the MoD, around 3,000 persons have been trained in unarmed civil resistance courses for 2022.
„We have developed separate audiences – we are not just going to the public, but we are going to some separate, specialised audiences,“ explained Ž. Tomkus stressing that the MoD has conducted training for banking sector specialists and representatives of state institutions and actively cooperates with NGOs and the Lithuanian diaspora abroad.
„I would like the courses we organise (...) to be linked into one common vessel and have a common leitmotif. There is not only the civil resistance course, which is organised by the Centre for Civil Resistance, but also the resistance course, which the Military Academy curates. That course is currently being organised for representatives of state institutions. We have a course on the defence of national security, where, again, we are expanding certain audiences, and we want to involve not only state institutions but also non-governmental organisations,“ the Vice-Minister said.
He said a pilot training course for 9th-grade students has also been successfully implemented. According to the MoD, a course on Citizenship and Defence Skills, developed in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Science and Sport and the Lithuanian Rifles, will be launched in the summer of 2022. Around 1.2 thousand people will be trained in 2022. In 2022, the Lithuanian schools will have trained 9th-grade pupils. The aim is to cover 100% of pupils in these grades in the school year 2024–2025.
„Citizenship and Defence Skills Course. (...) I would not like to call it a pilot course because I would like to see it become a regular course on the agenda, compulsory in all Lithuanian schools in 2024,“ he said.
In addition, Ž. Tomkus stressed that the issue of the commandant's offices is also a major focus of the MoD.
„The development of commanderies, through which we involve not only state institutions but also individual groups, from the Riflemen's Union to individuals or organisations that could contribute to the state's defence,“ he noted.
ELTA recalls that the Seimas of the Republic of Lithuania adopted the Strategy for Training Citizens for Civil Resistance in May last year.
The document provides for the organisation of compulsory training for all civil servants, school teachers, pupils in grades 11–12, persons performing alternative national defence service, and members of the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union aged 18 and older.
The Strategy provides for strengthening education and information of citizens about contemporary threats, national security and opportunities to contribute to the country's defence. The aim is also to strengthen the development of citizenship and patriotism among young people, to improve the training of teachers, and to encourage the participation of citizens in public activities and the preservation of historical memory.
