Ministry with a new assignment – mandatory military service

Croatian Defense Minister allegedly received the task of introducing a month of mandatory military training after high school, Croatian media reports.

Ministry with a new assignment – mandatory military service

Croatian Defense Minister allegedly received the task of introducing a month of mandatory military training after high school, Croatian media reports.

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For now, it is unknown what the concept would look like. However, it can be expected that it would be based on the concept of thorough military training, which the former Minister of Defense Damir Krstičević planned to introduce back in 2017.

"Under the existing security circumstances and threats around the world, it is not bad for the Ministry of Defense to make a certain step forward from what is already being done according to the concept with those who voluntarily serve in the military and prepare the concept of shorter courses so that a wider number of people can become familiar with the basic skills that the younger generations don't have. I have been talking to ministers Anušić, Božinović, and Medved on this topic for some time, and we gave Anušić a mandate to come up with a certain concept," revealed Prime Minister Andrej Plenković on Monday.

The plan for military service in 2017 was based on voluntary enlistment, but today it would most likely have to be declared mandatory. Namely, in a situation where applications for voluntary military service are decreasing, it is difficult to expect that young people in Croatia would voluntarily apply to attend a summer or winter one-month military camp.

The Ministry of Defense and the General Staff of the Croatian Army then developed a concept based on a one-month military camp, in which young people would undergo the basics of military training voluntarily after completing high school. It was intended for the participants to go through the handling of personal and light weapons, shooting, orientation, field activities, self-protection, first aid, and protection measures against nuclear, chemical, and biological action.

Former minister Krstičević had a B with the idea of re-introducing mandatory military service which was met with massive public resistance. Information about how much military training would cost, how many military facilities would need to be arranged, and how many young people would be trained each year was never released to the public, Telegraf reported.