Generolo Jono Žemaičio Lietuvos karo akademija

Increasing emigration leads to the loss of investments in human capital as well as to the constraint of the knowledge economy via a huge leakage of demographical and intellectual capacity, hence threatening national security, social and economic stability. The target of the article is to examine the Lithuanian emigrants’ attitudes toward national security by analysing the relationship between emigration and national security, by disclosing the reasons for emigration, and by investigating the emigrants’ stance on national security. Long-term emigration lasting longer than a year has a greater impact on the country since most of long-term emigrants do not return. This is confirmed by the data revealing that most of emigrants live abroad for ten years or longer. Short-term (for less than a year) emigration can be qualified as a search for temporary financial improvement. It becomes evident amid financial crisis during which the loss of job opportunities and emigration leads to an increase in search for personal income and new experience abroad. Ninety four percent of participants of this research identify themselves as long-term emigrants, and 76% of them have a higher education. It points to the loss of educational investment and qualified labour force. The research reveals that most of survey respondents do not expect to return, for they do not trust the authorities. In addition, they deem that it is not reasonable to increase funding for the Lithuanian Armed Forces. The results of the study allow conclusions to be drawn that emigration is a real threat to Lithuania’s national security.

The problem of national security is relevant to all countries of the world as it is an important condition for the country’s economic growth. This is confirmed by the World Economic Forum (WEF) distinguished risks of economic development, their interactions, threats and dangers on the global level. The aim of the article is to characterize the internal factors of Lithuanian national security which are related to the possibilities of economic threats and dangers. The method of basic indicator comparison is used; where as the first year (e.g., year 2007) of the analyzed period is selected as the base year. Both absolute and relative quantities of analyzed indices are compared.

International migration has become a key challenge and concern in the European Union (EU) and most part of the word. On the one hand, the freedom to move to another Member State is the right guaranteed for all the EU citizens. On the other hand, emigration or immigration is a longstanding concern for policy makers in many countries. Generally, human capital is one of the future sustainable competitiveness resources. Moreover, now, as the Lisbon Strategy is being replaced by the new EU strategy Europe 2020 for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth (2010), there is evidence that mobility in the EU will increase. In order to achieve the goals of the strategy Europe 2020 (2010), especially employment target, the flagship initiative “Youth on the Move” places a lot of emphasis on mobility as in moving to another country to study, train or work. The perceptions of this research show that growing mobility can be followed with new migration trends in the future. Moreover, no single answer to the question what level of migration (emigration or immigration) should be tolerated in the context of sustainable developing economy could be provided. This research not only confirms this observation and theoretical problem of “sustainable migration” but goes much further by discussing the reasons why one of the highest emigration rates in the EU happened to be found in Lithuania.