Valruzia

[Aethan]

Citizens to get compulsory military training

Valruzian government presents legislation aimed at giving mandatory one-year military course to general population 

January 5631

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Valruzian minister of Defence, Damian Zaborowski, has presented today the government's plan to introduce compulsory one-year military service and training for all citizens at the age of 18. The bill, already labelled as controversial by some, has been framed as a democratic reform to professionalize the armed forces after decades of dictatorship, blending military training with education and disaster-response skills, as well as to "make citizens more ready in any conflictive future".

As some citizens have already expressed worries of introducing such a kind of service merely five years after the fall of the Valruzian Unitary State and the dictatorship of Szczepan Morawski, the government has stressed that this "is not a return to militarism". The core of the bill presented includes a flexible scheduling so recruits can choose morning, evening, or weekend drills to avoid clashes with university studies, along with academic incentives thanks to certain parts of the military training being focused in fields like cybersecurity, field medicine, or engineering, which would grant university credits; and a transparent paycheck for every participant involving 80% of the national minimum wage.

The program, named "Patriot+", avoids combat-heavy training, focusing instead on:

• Self-defense and martial arts (with disciplines such as krav maga or tactical judo), in order to prioritize discipline over aggression.
  
• Civilian crisis response, aimed at military training for disaster relief, cyber threat awareness and emergency medical training.
  
• Strengthening of democratic values, focused on workshops on constitutional rights and military ethics to distance the program from past abuses, including educating the younger generations on the crimes perpretated by the Morawski dicatorship, its differences with what the military should be and Constitutional classes about the new Valruzian Constitution, under the motto: "A military that serves, doesn’t rule"
  

Minister Zaborowski, whose father was a former dissident of the regime, used the announcement of the plan to acknowledged public skepticism and fears surrounding the government's idea:

"I need to make this clear that this isn’t the conscription of our parents’ era. We’re building a force that protects freedoms—not suppresses them. The dictatorship exploited our military; now, we’re reclaiming it for the people. Our citizens need to understand that a prepared society is one that is more likely to successfully prevent another dictatorship like the one we successfully defeated from happening again."

Despite some criticism regarding the plan, different polls show around 61% support among youth, with many of them lured by priority hiring in public-sector jobs, good first salary and the perspective of a good fitness training. Also, it has been said that the bill will add oversight by civilian councils to prevent abuses.

Another part of the proposed plan includes a voluntary training for people among 19-30, which covers most of the citizens born under the dictatorship, with a separate plan targeted specifically at them.

If passed by the Sejm, the program will launch in January 5632. The Communist Party of Valruzia, lead by Kampania Marshall Tobiasz Bernas, has announced his party vote in favor the bill, surprising supporters and detractors alike. Mr. Bernas has cited among the reasons for his endorsement to call for "a People’s army for a socialist future" having a democratized military serving the working class rather than elite interests and therefore breaking from the old dictatorship’s "officer-class privilege"; mentioning education as liberation for the people and job guarantees for Valruzian citizens; and defending the anti-fascist resistance spirit during the dictatorship to defend the inclusion of martial arts and cyber-training to be used against far-right militias, but still he has given freedom of vote to his deputies. However, the bill is expected to pass with National Salvation also announced its vote in favor. The only party openly against it is surprisingly the coalition partners of Sovereign Valruzia, the center-left Dignity and Progress, who have said this is a "wrong step", but has declared that this is in no way a fracture in the still young ruling coalition government.