SARAJEVO: Serbia’s authorities ministers on Friday (Sep 20) agreed to reintroduce obligatory navy service which was abolished 14 years in the past, President Aleksandar Vucic mentioned, praising the choice as an vital step to enhance the nation’s defence readiness.
The federal government mentioned in a press release that it might type a working group to launch the method.
Beneath the plan, Serb males can have obligatory navy service consisting of 60 days of coaching and 15 days of workout routines, the federal government mentioned. The service can be voluntary for women.
Some navy specialists have criticised the plan, saying it will likely be expensive and that such a brief interval of service will contribute little to the nation’s defence capabilities.
The armed forces of Serbia, which emerged as an impartial state after the bloody collapse of former Yugoslavia within the Nineties, had been absolutely professionalised in 2011 however stay poorly paid and geared up.
The Balkan nation, which is a candidate for European Union membership, has retained voluntary service and reserve items.
“It isn’t our intention to assault anybody however we need to flip away those that threaten us,” Vucic mentioned after signing an settlement for the re-introduction of the conscription final week.
Serbia’s transfer coincides with the same determination by neighbouring NATO member Croatia, whose defence minister introduced earlier this month that obligatory conscription, which was suspended in 2008, can be re-introduced from Jan 1, 2025.
Serbia, which maintains navy neutrality, joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme in 2006 and in 2015 it signed the Particular person Partnership Motion Plan – the best degree of cooperation for nations not aspiring to hitch the alliance.
Final month, Serbia signed a landmark settlement with France’s Dassault Aviation for the acquisition of 12 new Rafale fighter jets, a transfer which indicators a transfer away from Russia, its conventional ally and weapons provider.
Croatia additionally bought 12 Rafale fighter jets, six of which have already landed within the EU member nation.
The 2 neighbouring nations, which keep fairly chilly relations for the reason that collapse within the Nineties of the previous Yugoslav federation of which they had been half, are within the course of of buying fashionable helicopters and weapons, which some specialists see as an arms race.
