Croatia will reintroduce two-month obligatory army service from January 1. File | Photograph credit score: AP
Croatia will reintroduce a two-month obligatory army service from January 1 subsequent yr, the nation’s Defence Minister Ivan Anusic introduced on Thursday night (August 15, 2024).
The transfer comes amid heightened tensions in Europe following Russian aggression in opposition to Ukraine, in addition to an obvious arms race and army buildup within the Balkans, which went by way of a bloody warfare within the Nineteen Nineties.
See: Which international locations have obligatory army service?
The choice marks a return to obligatory army service, which was suspended in 2008 when the nation moved to a volunteer-based system.
“We’ve got elevated the salaries of troopers, non-commissioned officers and officers, their materials rights not solely by way of private revenue but in addition by way of day by day wages and the whole lot that is because of them,” the minister informed Croatian broadcaster RTL on Thursday (16 August 2024).
“The modernization and equipping of the Armed Forces is progressing as deliberate and in accordance with the settlement with our allies and the NATO management,” the Minister stated, including that there will probably be no financial savings on this space.
Different European international locations are contemplating related measures or have reinstated obligatory army service in response to rising regional tensions.
Final yr, Latvia reinstated conscription in response to the menace posed by a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. Serbia, Croatia’s largest rival within the Balkans, can also be contemplating reactivating it.
