The legislative framework required for the introduction of mandatory military service in Croatia should be presented in June and adopted by the Parliament in October this year, which means that the training of the first conscripts in the barracks in Knin, Slunj and Požega will begin at the end of this year or at the latest at the beginning of next year.
Everything for the start of training in the Knin, Slunj and Požega barracks is already ready, but it is necessary to change the legislative framework introducing mandatory basic military training.
More or less everything has been agreed, but the details about the civil service of military service for those who are called upon to be called to conscience are still being “polished”, Hina has learned unofficially from the Government of the Republic of Croatia.
A meeting of Prime Minister Andrej Plenković with the ministers of defense, interior and foreign affairs and representatives of the Armed Forces was held in Banski dvori earlier this week, from which two documents were sent to the President of the Republic of Croatia and Commander-in-Chief Zoran Milanović – drafts of the Defense Strategy and the Long-term Development Plan of the Armed Forces, with the proposal that these documents be discussed at the Defense Council session.
In addition, it is known, the meeting also agreed on a schedule of activities to amend the Law on Defense and the Law on Service in the Armed Forces.
The plan is to submit the amendments to the Defense Law, which reintroduces mandatory military service, to a public consultation in June, to discuss the first reading in the Croatian Parliament until the summer break, until July 15, then in the second reading in September, and to vote on the Law in October.
The first conscripts will start training in the barracks at the end of this year or at the latest at the beginning of next year, Hina was told.
Mandatory basic military training will last two months, for which conscripts will receive 1,100 euros per month, net of accommodation and food. Their training will be recognized as work experience and will also be taken as an advantage for employment in state and public services, which should be a motivating aspect of military service.
Employees will not be allowed to be fired from their workplace during military training, and students will be able to receive a deferment during their studies, up to the age of 29 at the latest.
Those who refuse to serve military training will have, as it is currently envisioned, two options. They will be able to undergo a three-month training through the Civil Protection system to act in crisis situations, such as fires, floods, earthquakes, or work for four months for the local self-government (municipality, city or county) on utility jobs for eight hours a day.
Annually, the state will send five invitations for basic military training for 800 conscripts each, which would be 4,000 conscripts annually.
