Croatia wants to reintroduce mandatory military service

The return of mandatory military service was актуализирован in the election campaign for the last presidential elections, when the current president of Croatia and supreme commander of the Armed Forces, Kolinda Grabar-Kitarović, advocated for its reintroduction, writes Jutarnji list.

Grabar-Kitarović, according to the paper, then noticed the very poor state of the national security and defense system, and mandatory military service was offered as one of the measures to improve this situation.

According to Jutarnji, the Croatian Army is too small today to be able to defend the country independently, without the help of allies, in the event of a conflict. In addition to very weak combat capabilities, the Croatian Army has been wrongly perceived by society for a long time. Citizens primarily see it as an institution whose main tasks are emergency medical transport, search and rescue, and extraction of careless or injured tourists, extinguishing fires during the summer season, and assistance in case of natural disasters.

The true role of the army, where the army is the one that must primarily be ready to defend the country and represents the main guarantor of independence, is gradually being lost from public perception.

The paper states that Croatia could also receive support from the USA for the reintroduction of military service. Before reintroducing mandatory military service, Croatia needs to resolve the financing of this project, given that the current Croatian army also lacks financial resources, even for basic needs such as food, transport, and ammunition.