As of 1 January 2011,
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
no longer practises
mandatory military service
Conscription (also called the draft in the United States) is the state-mandated enlistment of people in a national service, mainly a military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and it continues in some countries to the present day un ...
. Prior to this, mandatory military service lasted 6 months for men.
Conscientious objector
A conscientious objector (often shortened to conchie) is an "individual who has claimed the right to refuse to perform military service" on the grounds of freedom of thought, conscience, or religion. The term has also been extended to object ...
s could however opt for 9 months of
civil service
The civil service is a collective term for a sector of government composed mainly of career civil servants hired on professional merit rather than appointed or elected, whose institutional tenure typically survives transitions of political leaders ...
instead.
History
On 15 December 2010, the
National Assembly
In politics, a national assembly is either a unicameral legislature, the lower house of a bicameral legislature, or both houses of a bicameral legislature together. In the English language it generally means "an assembly composed of the repre ...
voted to suspend mandatory military service. The decision fully came into force on 1 January 2011.
From 10–17 December 2016, sociologist Srećko Mihailović conducted a nationwide survey with a sample size of 1,200 adults on whether Serbia should return conscription, with the results being that 75% of respondents supported a return of conscription in Serbia.
A 2018 poll found support for Conscription at 74%, while a 2021 poll found support at 75%.
In August 2018, president
Aleksandar Vučić
Aleksandar Vučić ( sr-Cyrl, Александар Вучић, ; born 5 March 1970) is a Serbian politician serving as the president of Serbia since 2017, and as the president of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS) since 2012.
Vučić served ...
said the country was considering the idea of reintroducing conscription from 2020, to help improve the combat readiness of the
Serbian Army
The Serbian Army ( sr-cyr, Копнена војска Србије, Kopnena vojska Srbije, lit=Serbian Land Army) is the land-based and the largest component of the Serbian Armed Forces.
History
Originally established in 1830 as the Army of Pr ...
.
On 4 January 2024, the
Serbian General Staff
The Serbian Armed Forces General Staff ( sr, Генералштаб Војске Србије, Generalštab Vojske Srbije) is the highest authority within the Serbian Armed Forces and a significant command entity with numerous organizaional unit ...
has proposed reintroduction of conscription to president Aleksandar Vučić.
Politics
Boško Obradović
Boško Obradović (; ; born 23 August 1976) is a Serbian politician who is the founder and leader of the right-wing political party Dveri. He was the party's nominee for the 2017 and 2022 presidential elections.
Early life
Obradović was born o ...
, leader of
Dveri
The Serbian Movement "Dveri" ( sr-Cyr, Српски покрет Двери, Srpski pokret Dveri), commonly just known as Dveri (), is a nationalist and right-wing populist political party in Serbia. It its currently led by Boško Obradović, wh ...
, supports bringing back conscription in Serbia.
Milan Stamatović
Milan Stamatović (Serbian Cyrillic: Милан Стаматовић, , born 24 May 1960) is a Serbian politician who has been the President of the municipality of Čajetina since 2004. He was an independent candidate in the 2017 Serbian president ...
, head of the
Sovereignists, stated his support for the introduction of
mandatory conscription into the army.
See also
*
Serbian Armed Forces
The Serbian Armed Forces ( sr, Војска Србије, Vojska Srbije) is the military of Serbia.
The President of Serbia acts as commander-in-chief of the armed forces, while administration and defence policy is carried out by the Government o ...
References
External links
Serbian Military official websiteSerbian Ministry of Defense
{{Conscription in Europe
Serbia
Serbia (, ; Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), officially the Republic of Serbia (Serbian language, Serbian: , , ), is a landlocked country in Southeast Europe, Southeastern and Central Europe, situated at the crossroads of the Pannonian Bas ...
Military of Serbia
2011 disestablishments in Serbia