Latvia has introduced mandatory military training in high schools to prepare young people for potential Russian aggression and to strengthen national cohesion, including among the Russian-speaking minority. The program combines practical exercises, weapons handling, and patriotic education.
Sindija Brakovska is 18 years old and dreams of becoming a stylist or a dance teacher. She studies at the Riga Technical School of Tourism and Creative Industry, a vocational school focused on hospitality, tourism, and fashion, reports the publication “Politico”.
“I like girly things,” says the young woman.
Alongside twenty other girls aged between 16 and 18, she is learning to shoot with air rifles.
“I’m a bit nervous,” says Sindija before lifting the weapon for the first time. Asked what she thinks about the national defense lessons, she adds: “I think it makes sense.”
In many European countries, the presence of guns in the classroom would be a scandal. In Latvia, there is no such opposition, and firearms training has become part of the curriculum, even for future stylists or dance teachers.
Together with Estonia and Lithuania, Latvia spent decades under the Soviet Union, and those who remember the Soviet years know what foreign domination means. Since the beginning of Russia’s war against Ukraine, the Baltic states are wondering if they could be next. Threats from Moscow are taken seriously, and the Baltic countries are preparing for the possibility of a new Russian aggression.
Details, HERE