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The Serbian army proposes the return of compulsory military service

Politiko 2024-01-04 14:08:58

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Serbia launched an initiative and proposed to President Aleksandar Vučić the return of the obligation to serve in the army for up to four months, the Ministry of Defense announced on January 4.

This, as it is said, was done "in order to increase the defensive capabilities of the Armed Forces of Serbia, through renewal and improvement of the training of active and reserve forces".

"The proposal of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Serbia comes after a detailed review of the overall security situation and the contemporary challenges facing Serbia as a militarily neutral country, which imposed the need to adapt the army's replenishment model that would enable the strengthening of the general potential, recruitment and training of a greater number of citizens for the defense of our country", the announcement states.

Previously, the Minister of Defense, Milosh Vučevič, has announced the beginning of the parliamentary procedure for the annulled decision on the suspension of mandatory military service and the revision of the law that regulates this obligation.

On January 4, Vučević told Happy television that the initiative is being launched based on an assessment of the security situation in the country and that many European countries are reactivating the obligation to serve in the military.

He stated that there has been no mandatory military service for 13 years and that the army "now needs to fill the reserve cadre".

"We have 13 generations where there was no mandatory military service, 13 generations left the reserve of the Armed Forces of Serbia. Our defense and security needs are to have new recruits and a new squad, which is always ready to defend the country. It does not mean that we are preparing for conflicts or that some wars are on the horizon", said Vucevic.

In Serbia, compulsory military service was abolished on January 1, 2011, since then only those who want to join the army voluntarily. The topic of the return of compulsory military service is not new in the statements of officials. In 2022, the president of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, spoke about this, while a year ago, the then Minister of Defense, Nebojša Stefanović, also spoke about this.

In their statements, Serbian officials emphasize that Serbia does not and will not have any intention to join NATO. If the current government decides to return military service to the regular framework, Serbia will be among the few countries in Europe, such as Sweden, Lithuania or Georgia, which removed this obligation and then reinstated it. The European countries that have not abolished compulsory military service are Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Turkey, Estonia, Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Greece and Cyprus./ REL