Vucevic: We do not give up on the demand for the return of mandatory military service; Serbia is a militarily neutral country

Minister of Defense Milos Vucevic stated tonight that the Ministry of Defense and the Serbian Army would not give up on the demand for the abolition of the suspension of mandatory military service in the country, emphasizing that Serbia was militarily neutral, and therefore the government acted accordingly, while understanding the context of global events.

"We have submitted an official initiative to the military cabinet of the President of the Republic, awaiting their response, for a joint analysis on all issues", Vucevic said.

He stated that the Working Group had been formed, not to "water down" the topic, but to clearly see the situation in recruitment centers, health institutions, and the issue of barracks infrastructure, equipment, nutrition, and civilian-military service..., which, he notes, were important issues that must be considered before making a decision.

"As far as I'm concerned, the Ministry and the Serbian Army will not give up on the request to cancel the suspension of mandatory military service", Vucevic said, who is also the leader of the Serbian Progressive Party, after the party's Presidency session.

He recalled that the proposal was for the military service to last up to four months, and whether it would be 100 or 120 days was a matter of agreement and expertise.

"Serbia is a militarily neutral country and is governed accordingly, but understanding the context of all events because we are a serious country and we don't bury our heads in the sand", Vucevic said and added that every year around 1,500 members of the army entered the reserve, while 60,000 were deleted.

"Think about who can stand it", he said.

Vucevic also said that this did not mean the collapse of the professional army, as individuals interpreted it.

Successful elections; focused on what awaits us - we will seek a mandate to form the government

Vucevic reported that at the session of the Party Presidency, it had been judged that the elections had been successful and that the Serbian Progressive Party would now focus on what awaited it in the coming period.

"We performed an analysis of the election results. We met the members of the Presidency with their own election results. In general, we assessed the elections as successful. We are grateful to the President of Serbia, Aleksandar Vucic, who not only named the list but also took the biggest burden of the campaign upon himself. Out of 66 local governments in 54 we have an independent majority, and in 65 we won. Only in Novi Pazar, we have neither a relative nor an absolute majority, but that is natural considering the demographic data", he explained.

When it comes to deadlines, Vucevic indicated that the Serbian Progressive Party would not rush to form the government even at the local level.

"We will constitute the Assembly within the deadlines stipulated by the law, and then start forming the government. We want the government to be inclusive, we will be guided by politics, not mathematics", he pointed out.

The Assembly of Serbia, he says, will be constituted within the legal term of 30 days, which began to run on January 12.

"When we have a final decision on who constitutes the parliamentary majority, we will meet the citizens", Vucevic emphasized, adding that Serbia Against Violence will be invited to the talks, as well as the Socialist Party of Serbia.

He pointed out that he did not rule out that some other parliamentary groups would also be invited if they had the political will.

No discussion of personal solutions

Vucevic stated that no personal solution had been discussed.

"We did not even discuss our candidate for the president of the assembly, which precedes the discussion about the mandate. We will talk about that in the next period", Vucevic said.

When it comes to the capital city, Vucevic said that there was not much mystification there - when council mandates were assigned, within 30 days the Assembly of the City of Belgrade would be constituted and it will be seen whether there was a majority.

"There is no third option, either there is a majority or we go to new elections in Belgrade. We think it is better to elect a majority, but we will not do anything 'by force'. If there is no majority, we will go to new elections, not to a repeat", Vucevic said and added that everyone should correctly assess what result they would achieve.

With great hope and optimism in the "Serbia 2027" project

Vucevic also said that the "Serbia 2027" project should represent an additional dose of optimism despite countless challenges and difficulties, such as the Kosovo issue, the situation in the region, and geopolitical events.

"Serbia must develop, the citizens must live better, we must complete the projects, take advantage of the opportunity. We are waiting for the realization of that project with great hope. Maybe the Expo seems far away to some, but it will come quickly and that is why we have to work together in order to achieve goals", Vucevic said. Top of Form