Juozas Olekas
| Juozas Olekas link Facebook (Surgeon, politician) | |
|---|---|
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| Born | 30 October 1955 |
| Nationality | Lithuanian |
Lithuanian Defence Minister who reintroduced conscription | |
Juozas Olekas is a Lithuanian surgeon and politician, a former Minister of National Defence, from 2006 to 2008. In 1990 and from 2003 to 2004 he also was made Health Minister. In 2019 he was elected to the European Parliament.[1]
Olekas studied at Kaunas Institute of Medicine from 1974 to 1976, and at Vilnius University from 1976 to 1980.
Between 1994 and 1997 he was a chief physician at the Vilnius University hospital.
Activities
As Lithuanian Defence Minister, Olekas stated in 2015 that "changed geopolitical situation and insufficient manning of units of the Lithuanian Armed Forces leads to a temporary reintroduction of conscription... The development of the Lithuanian Armed Forces will remain directed at professional military service, however, today we lack professional soldiers so a compound model will be introduced for the coming 5 years.”[2]