At its congress on Saturday, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union voted overwhelmingly in favour of nominating Lieutenant Colonel Linas Idzelis to be the next commander of the paramilitary organisation.
Out of 247 delegates, 243 supported Idzelis, proposed for the post by Prime Minister Ingrida Šimonytė, two voted against and another two votes were invalidated.
Idzelis is now likely to take over as commander of the Riflemen's Union from Colonel Albertas Dapkus, whose term has ended.
"The Riflemen's Union is an organisation that can teach you a lot, and also show you how much you didn't know that you know," Šimonytė said when introducing the candidate.
Idzelis joined the professional military service in 1992 and is currently in charge of military training planning in the Lithuanian Armed Forces.
In February, the lieutenant colonel told the parliament it was necessary to prepare for possible aggression in advance and that everyone should know their role in national defence.
He also said that he was impressed by Israel's model of universal military service.
Idzelis is being nominated under a new procedure adopted by the parliament in late 2022.
The commander was previously appointed by the defence minister, but under the new regulation, this will be done by the government on the prime minister's nomination and approval of the parliamentary Committee on National Security and Defence and the Congress of the Riflemen's Union.
Established in 1919, the Lithuanian Riflemen's Union is a state-supported volunteer paramilitary public organisation and had over 10,000 members before Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The numbers have since grown.
In case of a military conflict, the riflemen would fight alongside the regular armed forces, as well as provide assistance in maintaining public order, protecting key infrastructure, collecting intelligence and performing other tasks.
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