Defence Minister Ivan Anusic said on Thursday that Croatia will reintroduce compulsory military service on 1 January 2025 and that compulsory military service will last two months.

Croatia suspended conscription in 2008 and since then interested candidates have applied for service on a voluntary basis. However, following the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine and the increasingly turbulent military and political developments in the world, Croatia has begun to consider reintroducing compulsory military service.

In his interview with the commercial television channel RTL on Thursday evening, Anusic also spoke about the modernisation of the armed forces.

“The modernisation and equipping of the armed forces is proceeding as expected and in accordance with our agreement with our allies in NATO and the NATO leadership,” said the minister, adding that no savings would be made in this area.