The President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vučić, has stated that the serving of a “very short” regular military service will begin in March 2027.
He made the statement on Sunday, 28 June, during an inspection of weapons and equipment at the Milenko Pavlović military airfield in Batajnica near Belgrade. “Before that, bureaucratic procedures will commence, and in March we will proceed with the serving of a very short military service. This will further strengthen our defence capabilities,” Vučić said.
At the beginning of the year, he announced that mandatory military service would be introduced in December 2026 or March 2027, and that it would last for 75 days.
The introduction of mandatory military service must be voted on by parliament through the enactment of a law. In recent years, representatives of the authorities in Serbia have repeatedly announced the reinstatement of military service. The idea was formalised in January 2024. At that time, the General Staff of the Serbian Armed Forces launched an initiative and proposed the introduction of military service to the president.
Vučić subsequently signed his approval for the return of mandatory military service to Serbia in September of the same year.
The Serbian Armed Forces officially became professional at the beginning of 2011, when the parliamentary Decision on the Suspension of the Mandatory Military Service Obligation came into force. Regular mandatory armed service was replaced by voluntary service, and the military began to be replenished by professional soldiers and officers.
Neighbouring Croatia also voted to reinstate mandatory military service in October 2025. Among the countries that have never abolished mandatory military service are Switzerland, Norway, Denmark, Finland, Austria, Turkey, Estonia, Greece, Cyprus, Ukraine, Russia, and Belarus.
(Radio Free Europe, 29.06.2026)
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