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The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, said on Saturday that he has approved the restoration of compulsory military service and expects the Balkan country's government and parliament to do so.
During a graduation ceremony for young officers of the Armed Forces of Serbia, he said that "I want to believe that everyone understands how much we need a strong army, how much more weapons we will have to buy, produce, because it is not our desire to attack anyone and we will not do it, but we want to repel those who threaten us every day", he said, but without giving any proof of who is threatening Serbia.
The mandatory service would last 75 days, he said.
Serbia suspended compulsory military service in 2011 amid efforts to professionalize the armed forces. But the country now looks close to returning the service after a long campaign in its favour, despite concerns that the government may struggle to foot the bill for a massive recruitment drive.
Tensions are still high in the Balkan region, which faced the bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Although officially neutral, the Serbian military has maintained close ties with Russia, from which it buys most of its weaponry, including planes and tanks.
At the end of August, Serbia reached an agreement with France for the purchase of 12 Rafale military aircraft, in what was seen as a change in the path of its cooperation with Russia in the field of defense.
But, shortly after this agreement, Belgrade sent Serbian Deputy Minister Aleksandar Vulin to Russia to assure Russian President Vladimir Putin that the Balkan country, which officially seeks membership in the European Union, is an ally of Russia that will never impose sanctions against Moscow. or join NATO.
Tensions are high around Kosovo, which declared independence in 2008, which is opposed by Serbia and its allies Russia and China.
Serbia has also maintained good relations with NATO, whose peacekeeping troops have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999, when the Western military alliance intervened to end Belgrade's bloody repression of Kosovo Albanians.
Another volatile region is Bosnia, where pro-Russian leader Milorad Dodik has threatened to declare the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia independent and unite it with neighboring Serbia. / VOA
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