Renewed Military Draft Sparks Surprise Interest Among Croatia’s Youth
Croatian soldiers take part in an exercise in 2025. Around 20,000 individuals are to be trained in batches by the end of this year.
Photographer: Damir Sencar/AFP/Getty Images
Croatia is resuming mandatory military training after nearly two decades, with the initial recruits joined by far more volunteers than officials were expecting.
Beginning this week, 800 Croats will fan out across three sites, where they’ll learn a range of combat skills, from shooting an assault rifle, to Krav Maga defense and operating drones. Around half of them are volunteers, the other half were drafted.