Ponos on Initiative to Reinstate Mandatory Military Service: Regime Admits Army Is Not What It's Supposed to Be

Zdravko Ponos( BETAPHOTO/MILAN OBRADOVIC/MO)

Leader of the Serbia Center (SRCE) opposition party Zdravko Ponos has described the "initiative" to restore mandatory military service as the regime's admitting that after 11 years of their rule, the Serbian army is not what it's supposed to be.

Ponos, a former chief of General Staff, recalled in a post on X that Defense Minister Milos Vucevic had informed the public that the General Staff had launched "an initiative" to restore mandatory military service.

"Let's leave aside [the reason] why this topic [has been raised] again and why now, but it is certainly an admission by the regime that after 11 years of their rule, the Army is not what it's supposed to be," said Ponos.

He also said that "it is all right for the General Staff to conclude that something must be done," and asked Vucevic how much it would cost, because citizens should be informed about that.

Defense Minister Milos Vucevic said that the authorities were planning on organizing a public hearing about the reintroduction of at least four months of mandatory military service.

According to him, the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff has serious professional documentation that will provide arguments for why mandatory military service should be restored.