Croatia to reintroduce compulsory military draft as regional tensions soar

23 comments

1. *Bojna Čavoglave intensifies*

2. In Balkans the situation depends on Russian actions also, the cultural-historical disputes in the region such as in Bosnia, Kosovo Serbia and NMK are used by Balkan actors in favour of Russia and the situation can easily explode in near future.

3. How much time will Croatian men pay? A year or two? Will there be a room for Croatian women?

4. “Tensions soar”? It is literally same old – same old.

   Nothing special going on. As for compulsory mil. service, if organised well, it can be quite a good thing.

   After the moskal invasion of Ukraine, think it should be normal for people to know how to shoot and maintain weapons, provide emergency aid, and other stuff.

5. It’s all just for show. Only 2 months duration, with a serious lack of instructors and infrastructure. Only basics of command structure, basic squad drills and just several shooting practices for just a fraction of the demographic. Waste of time and money (that could be more smartly used for equipment and arms procurement or training more permanent reserve forces).

   Our right-wing government is doing this to please the minority of their electoral base that sees danger from Serbs and immigrants that’s not really there (we are in NATO and EU and the vast majority of our immigrants are here legally on a work visa with very low crime rates among them) and cries about “kids no longer becoming men” and hope that a makeshift draft will somehow “fix the youth”. Most of our youth is abroad anyway…

6. I live in Croatia and I didn’t even know tensions soared. I’d actually say it’s been more peaceful than usual, Vučić and Milanović barely even talk about each other

   Don’t fall for HDZ’s lies

7. Eww, compulsory military service

8. Right wing government propping up its support by ratcheting up militarism on the society.

9. Really not as bad as it sounds. Summer camp with guns. Unique experience and you make lifelong memories and friends from it. No you don’t go to war just because you’re conscripted unless there’s an actual ongoing war that your country is actively involved in. Many countries do it.

10. There are no tensions… I dont know where is this coming from.

11. This story with the ‘compulsory’ military drafting on woke gen Z individuals will be a nice show to watch unfold … wherever it may apply.

12. Is it just for guys who turn 18 right now, or will the draft also be for older guys? And if so until what age?

13. What tensions soared buddy. People in the Balkans are tired of wars.

14. What tensions around Croatia? Almost in the middle of Europe?

15. I m seeing the massive increase in serving in the old ass army/s.

    We re soo like Switzerland in term of modern army/s.

16. Note to those perplexed by “as regional tensions soar” in the title. It’s an American news outlet. To Americans, everything east of Berlin is a singular region known as “Eastern Europe”. If you ask an American to show Ukraine, Poland, or Croatia on the map, they’d probably point at roughly the same area for each. Just as, for Americans, everything from Algeria to Pakistan is “Middle East”.

    This isn’t a dig at Americans, just an explanation. I’m sure most Europeans wouldn’t be able to point exactly where each state in the USA is located either.

17. There is only synthetic tension, produced by politicians so they could freely launder money thru “military services”.

18. I guess they are thinking about hot summers with 40+ degree temp. Yes, indeed, that can be challenged only with two months military service!

19. Americans really are that dumb to put false info on the internet all the time. I am a croat and no tensions anywhere are felt. What a bunch of missleading info. Gosh

20. Does EU interpret the rage against Lithium as some tension building up between Serbia and Croatia?

    Seriously now, if anyone’s buying this article and believes there is something to it, you have a mental disability, no way to put it otherwise.

21. It’s getting annoying how British and US news try to hype up war. Lots of weapon sales if Europe gets into a war before it can scale up it’s own production. If most hardware has to be bought from them they prevent future competition from developing. It also gives them leverage that can be used to get rid of those pesky EU regulations.

22. Why did Tensions soar?

    Did Tensions buy a plane ticket?
    More like a hot air balloon!

23. There are no tensions.

    Hilariously enough though, I still don’t know what the age group for this is and cannot find the information anywhere.