Photo: Marija JankovićThe decision on the return of mandatory military service has almost been made, if the political leadership is to be believed. It's just that it's still not clear how all that should look, how much it would cost, and how it would affect the combat readiness of the Serbian Army, which in recent years shines only in media presentations. It is clear what Vučić thinks about it: it should be returned, so that men mature and learn what patriotism, obligations and work are.
A story about the unfreezing of military service revolves around political discourse Serbian officials for a long time. It intensified when Nebojša Stefanović replaced his blue uniform with a camouflage one and became the Minister of Defense. It was promised that by October of last year, a plan would be worked out as to what it would look like, that the military leadership would prepare everything. Nothing came of it.
Military analyst Aleksandar Radić told the "Vremena" portal that it is not clear whether Serbian officials really recognized the need for the introduction of military service, or whether it is a consequence of incompetent management. He explains that the number of units has been increased in recent years, but that they have not solved the problem of filling them, and therefore the introduction of military service is imposed as a way out.
Given that eventual military service would be served in training centers, where recruits are trained on a voluntary basis, of which there are far fewer, Radić believes that it will take years to equip these centers to receive a larger number of recruits.
The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, said last Friday that he proposes to "introduce military service for 90 days", adding that "as the supreme military commander, he does not want to accept the army's excuse that we do not have enough personnel for training".
He believes that by serving in the military, men would mature, in order to learn what "patriotism is, what work is, an obligation". On the other hand, there is an opinion that the recruits who went to compulsory military service in Yugoslavia, the FRY and SC and Serbia just wasted their time and did not learn anything useful.
Minister Stefanović made a symbolic announcement on Victory Day on May 9, saying that in the next two weeks, a plan with analyzes of what military service should look like will be announced, as well as that the financial aspect of returning this obligation will be determined. He reiterated his position that he supports the unfreezing of military service.
"Serbia is a militarily neutral country and as such I believe that it should have mandatory military service, just like Austria and Switzerland have it. By introducing it, we would, first of all, strengthen the defense capacities of our country," concluded Stefanović.
A part of the opposition, especially those from the right-wing ideological spectrum, is in favor of returning military service. The president of POKS and one of the leaders of the NADA coalition, Vojislav Mihajlović, supports that idea, but believes that three months is too little, and that it should not be less than six months. As stated in their statement, "compulsory military service undoubtedly strengthens our defense system, and the stronger the Serbian army, the greater the chances of preserving national interests in peace."
The leader of Dveri, Boško Obradović, believes that with his proposal, Vučić actually accepted the idea that they had proposed earlier.
Military service was abolished in 2010, and the decision entered into force on January 1 of the following year.
Today, it is not known how many reservists Serbia has, how many soldiers voluntarily served military service, and how many soldiers the Serbian Army has. Everything is a state secret.
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