Serbia's army is proposing bringing back the draft as tensions continue to rise in the Balkan region.
ADVERTISEMENTSerbia should reintroduce compulsory military service, the country’s defence ministry has announced, as tensions continue to escalate in the Balkans.
The ministry said in a statement that the proposal for service of up to four months is made “to increase the defence capabilities of the Serbian Armed Forces, through the rejuvenation and improvement in the training of the active and reserve forces.”
It said the proposal by the Serbian Armed Forces General Staff comes after "a detailed consideration of the general security situation and current challenges faced by the Republic of Serbia as a militarily neutral country."
It added that the proposal was forwarded to Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic, for his consideration.
It did not specify the age of potential draftees.
Serbia suspended mandatory military service in 2011 amid the push to professionalise the armed forces.
Now, though the country appears close to bringing back the draft after a long campaign in favour of it - despite concerns that the government may struggle to foot the bill for such a massive recruitment.
In the 1990s, the region went through a bloody breakup of the former Yugoslavia.
Tensions have been high in the Balkans since then.
Although formally neutral, the Serbian army has maintained close ties to Russia from where it has been purchasing most of its arms, including fighter jets and tanks.
Despite formally seeking European Union membership, Serbia has refused to introduce sanctions against Russia for its aggression on Ukraine.
Tensions have revolved primarily around Serbia's former province of Kosovo which declared independence in 2008 - something that Serbia and allies Russia and China do not recognise.
Belgrade has raised its forces' combat readiness on the border with Kosovo several times over the past several months.
Serbia has also maintained cordial relations with NATO whose peacekeeping troops have been stationed in Kosovo since 1999 when the Western military alliance intervened to stop Belgrade's bloody crackdown against Kosovo Albanian separatists.
Another volatile region is Bosnia where a Bosnian-Serb separatist leader has been threatening to declare the Serb-controlled half of Bosnia independent and to unite it with neighbouring Serbia.