- Nineteen prisoners use cutlery to break out of cells at Winchester prison
- France wants progress in Ukraine before Russia returns to G7
- Italy president begins talks to seek way out of government crisis
- Italian PM expected to resign as political chaos deepens
- Russia says US cruise missile test ‘regrettable’
- Kremlin - No date set for Normandy talks on Ukraine despite Macron meeting
- Egypt court hands out 6 death sentences on terror charges
- Putin says Russian nuclear explosion poses no threat
- Russian panel eyes alleged foreign interference in protests
- Gran Canaria wildfire triggers evacuation of thousands of people
- PM Johnson calls on Germany and France to compromise on Brexit
- Sudan's ex-president Bashir arrives at corruption trial
TEHRAN, August 22 - Serbia might reintroduce compulsory military service, nine years after abolishing it, to help improve the combat readiness of its army in the Balkans, where tensions occasionally flare, President Aleksandar Vucic said on Tuesday.
TEHRAN, Young Journalists Club (YJC) - The armed forces of Serbia, which emerged as an independent state after the bloody collapse of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, were fully professionalized in 2011, but remain poorly paid and equipped.
Serbia, which is a candidate for European Union membership, has retained voluntary service and reserve units.
Vucic said Belgrade was considering reintroducing compulsory military service of between three and six months after 2020.
"We are still thinking about that ... It depends on the finances," he told reporters at the air force base of Batajnica, just outside Belgrade.
Young people who served would have an advantage when seeking jobs in the public sector, Vucic added, without elaborating.
Serbian politicians have repeatedly floated the idea of reintroducing conscription. But many military experts say it would be too costly and that such a short period of service would contribute little to the country's defense capabilities.
Under its 2018 budget, Serbia allocated $703 million, or 1.39 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) for its 40,000-strong military, up from $693.8 million in 2017.
In recent years Serbia has sought to improve its defense capabilities through a donation of six MIG-29 fighters by Russia, with which it has strong historic and cultural ties, and through the purchase of nine helicopters manufactured by Airbus.
Source: Reuters
Your Comment