How long could compulsory military service last in Serbia? Vucic talks about all the "pros and cons"

Photo: Tanjug/ Dimitrije Nikolic

Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic said today that the state is currently weighing the matter of whether we need the return of compulsory military service, adding that there will be no rush to make a decision.

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He said that there is no final decision yet and pointed out that military service would not last a year, as before, but four, five or six months.

Among the "pros" he counted the fact that border areas would be "uplifted", which, says Vucic, are dying demographically, like Negotin, Pirot, Zajecar, Priboj, Ljubovija...

"In those places, we would build or renovate barracks, where any kind of economic activity would contribute to further economic development of those places, while that move would significantly improve our combat readiness," Vucic underlined.

The introduction of compulsory military service, he points out, would certainly mean higher costs for the state.

He said that this starts with the fact that the state would have to provide four meals per soldier every day, pay for fuel, as well as all other costs, from recruitment to discharge from the army.

Photo: Tanjug/Dimitrije Nikolic

"Of course, there will always be those who will say it's a waste of time...  Now we are weighing the matter, there's no rush, but it is good to hear different arguments, and then we will make a decision at some point," concluded Vucic.

Stefanovic: The state intends to discuss this issue maturely and seriously

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Defense Dr. Nebojsa Stefanovic pointed out today that the topic of regular (compulsory) military service is important for our country and that the state intends to discuss it maturely and seriously in professional circles and, of course, have Serbian citizens give their opinion.

"The army is the guarantor of our country's stability and security, and the stronger the Serbian Army, the stronger Serbia is. We want to show absolute respect for our soldiers, non-commissioned officers and officers, for their around-the-clock engagement in protecting our country and its sky. We want to show how much we appreciate their profession and how much our people support them," said the minister of defense.

He stressed that that is exactly why President Vucic, the Government and the Ministry are doing everything so that soldiers are well equipped and paid, and feel they have their country's support.

Photo: Tanjug/ Jovo Mamula

"Regular military service has caused a lot of heated debate and a lot of people are arguing about it, but we believe that an expert discussion should be held. I personally support this idea, because I believe that in that way, our army will be stronger and more efficient. It's important to separate professional soldiers, whose number will not decrease, but on the contrary we intend to increase them, and regular military service, where young people will have the opportunity to support their fatherland in this way and show that they can be its soldiers. Thus, we are actively working on creating reserve units," said Stefanovic.

He recalled that the reserve force can be created only by having regular military service and that this is what Serbia has been missing in the previous ten years.

"What is important is that such a decision has not been made yet, because we want to discuss it maturely and seriously in professional circles, and we want citizens of Serbia to give their opinion about it, via the National Assembly," said Stefanovic.

(Telegraf.rs)