Croatia

Previous reports: 2024 | 2023/24

Principal EBCO concerns

• Alternative service is punitive and discriminatory in terms of duration (50% to 100% longer than military service).

Based on reporting by the Croatian Youth Network (Mreža mladih Hrvatske)² and public information:

Developments

On 24 October 2025, Croatia’s parliament approved the reintroduction of compulsory military service, reversing a 2008 decision to abolish conscription.³

The legislative changes within the last year included:

There is no reported or known legal initiative undergoing at the Parliament or any other state body concerning the military service or the right to conscientious objection at the moment.

Conscription provisions and procedures

The legislative provisions regulating conscription and the procedures include:

According to Article 21.m of the Defence Act, the basic military training lasts for two months.

The reservist obligations apply and are regulated under Article 25a - 25.o of the Defence Act.

Conscientious objection provisions and procedures

The provisions regulating the exemption of conscientious objectors include:

A request for civilian service may be submitted to the competent regional department of defence affairs after an assessment of the applicants’ suitability for military service.

As regulated by the Defence Act, when entering the military register, the competent regional department for defence affairs is obliged to inform the conscript of the right to submit a request for civilian service on the basis of conscientious objection.

A request for conscientious objection is decided by the state administration body responsible for civil protection, i.e. the Ministry of the Interior, upon the proposal of the civil service committee of that Ministry, within 30 days of the date of submission of the request.

The Civil Service Commission may reject the application or deem it invalid for the following reasons:

An appeal against the decision of the Civil Service Commission can be filed with the Appeals Commission within 15 days of receipt, and in most cases (except for the one from Article 31 of the Civil Service Act) it will postpone the execution - that is, the applicant will not need to respond until the Commission's decision.

According to Article 24 of the Defence Act, the civil service lasts three months when performed in civil protection bodies or four months when performed in local and regional self-government units.

Those who also refuse to perform alternative service are subject to a fine of 500 euros to 5000 euros, which is regulated by Articles 119, 119a, 119b of the Defence Act. If the refusal is repeated, the fine ranges from the amount of 1500 euros to 6630 euros.

Voluntary recruitment

Regulated by Law NN 22/2023.¹⁰ The minimum age for recruitment is 18 and the initial duration of service required is 40 days.

The incentives or measures used by the national armed forces to encourage voluntary recruitment include (As listed on the official website of the Ministry of Defence):¹¹

Conscientious objection during and after military service

Article 24 of the Defence Act applies in cases of serving members of the armed forces applying for conscientious objection.

The procedure for getting recognition as a conscientious objector is the same as described above.

The competent regional department for defence affairs is obliged to inform the serving personnel of the right to conscientious objection.

The same reasons listed above are provided as grounds for rejection in cases where an application for conscientious objection by a serving member is rejected.

The same regulations apply to the case of a reservist who applied for recognition as a conscientious objector.

1. Military expenditure figures are estimates published by SIPRI (The Stockholm International Peace Research Institute) in April 2026.↩︎
2. More info about the organisation at: https://mmh.hr/↩︎
3. See https://wri-irg.org/en/story/2025/croatia-reintroduces-conscription-concerns-raised-conscientious-objectors↩︎
4. Defence Act: https://www.zakon.hr/z/334/zakon-o-obrani↩︎
5. Law on Service in the Armed Forces of the Republic of Croatia: https://www.zakon.hr/z/327/zakon-o-sluzbi-u-oruzanim-snagama-republike-hrvatske↩︎
6. https://www.zakon.hr/z/94/ustav-republike-hrvatske↩︎
7. https://www.zakon.hr/z/334/zakon-o-obrani↩︎
8. https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/2025_12_155_2330.html↩︎
9. https://www.zakon.hr/z/327/zakon-o-sluzbi-u-oruzanim-snagama-republike-hrvatske↩︎
10. https://narodne-novine.nn.hr/clanci/sluzbeni/full/2023_02_22_375.html↩︎
11. https://www.morh.hr/kljucne-prednosti-programa-tvo/↩︎