BELGRADE • Serbia might reintroduce compulsory military service, nine years after abolishing it, to help improve the combat readiness of its army in the Balkans, where tensions occasionally flare, President Aleksandar Vucic said.

The armed forces of Serbia, which emerged as an independent state after the bloody collapse of former Yugoslavia in the 1990s, were fully professionalised in 2011, but remain poorly paid and equipped.

Serbia, which is a candidate for European Union membership, has retained voluntary service and reserve units.

Mr Vucic said on Tuesday that Belgrade was considering reintroducing compulsory military service of between three and six months after 2020.

"We are still thinking about that... It depends on the finances," he told reporters at the air force base of Batajnica.

Youth who served would have an advantage when seeking jobs in the public sector, Mr Vucic added, without elaborating.

Serbian politicians have repeatedly floated the idea of reintroducing conscription. But many military experts say it would be too costly and that such a short period of service would contribute little to the country's defence capabilities.

Under its 2018 Budget, Serbia allocated US$703 million (S$960 million), or 1.39 per cent of gross domestic product, for its 40,000-strong military.

In recent years, Serbia has sought to improve its defence capabilities through a donation of six MIG-29 fighters from Russia, with which it has strong historic and cultural ties, and through the purchase of nine helicopters manufactured by Airbus .

Mr Vucic and Defence Minister Aleksandar Vulin have frequently spoken of procuring surplus tanks, attack helicopters and armoured personnel carriers from Russia and more jet fighters from Belarus.

REUTERS