Im a 20 year old male living in the USA and am working on getting duel citizenship with Croatia. Im anxiously awaiting these decisions as they affect me greatly.
Hi Noah, I imagine you are anxious to get more answers. We are following this closely and will share updates as we have them. They did just confirm that military service will be 2 months, which means civil service will be 4 months. As small updates happen, we share them in our newsletter. Once this legislation is final, I'll make a brand new video to summarize everything. If you need any help with your Croatian citizenship, please let us know. :)
Just to add a little insight into this topic from someone who has lived it. In 1995 when I moved to Croatia for a job I received my draft notice to do my compulsory military service for 10 months. I was sent to Koprivnica for 3 months of basic training then to Borongaj in Zagreb for my work assignment. Basic training was interesting, I was put in a “special” class of recruits who didn’t really fit in with the other young 18 year olds. We were all between 25-28 from a variety of backgrounds. ( if you have ever watched the movie Stripes with Bill Murray it was kind of like that) We had 4 from Germany, one French foreign Legion dropout , a failed police recruit, a HOS veteran who’s fighting on the front lines during the war was not recognized, a merchant sailor a few petty criminals who spent time in jail and one guy who had some mental issues and a few guys who avoided service while in university and me the American. We were kept away from the normal recruits so as not to set a bad example since all of us were already developed individuals and couldn’t be broken down and built up again like the 18 year olds could. At times it sucked like guard duty at 3:00am outside in -15C weather at other times the jokes and laughter helped build a bond among us. Almost 30 years later I still stay in contact with some of my old buddies from the army and I am glad I served and would highly recommend it to everyone. I feel that a well designed program of 3 or 4 months would be all that is needed today to help this young generation to mature and develop some skills and install a sense of pride and patriotism. I see this as something very positive for everyone.
Wow, thank you for sharing this! Sounds like your unit was quite the eclectic, rag tag bunch of individuals! Very interesting, indeed. I'm glad to hear that you found it to be a good experience, made some lifelong friends and think it would be good for young people now. That's really positive, overall. Thank you again for taking the time to share the experience that you had. I'm certain it will be helpful to others.
We are getting questions from Croatian citizens who are concerned about being drafted because they don't speak Croatian. Did you speak Croatia when you were in the service? Did the others with you?
@@ExpatinCroatia I spoke “kitchen Croatian” meaning just in my family and to my grandparents. Mainly a mix of English and basic Croatian words at a 3rd grade level. It wasn’t until I started living there and listening to Croatian constantly that I started to pick up more vocabulary. ( I was taught all the swear words first 😉.)In the Army there was one German-Croatian who hardly spoke any but the others filled in the gaps and he was able to figure out what was being said. When you saw everyone doing push-ups it wasn’t hard to figure out that you had to do them as well. My biggest problem was some technical military terms I never heard before but the other guys explained it to me in English. That was almost 30 years ago today I am sure everyone knows some English today. A friend is in the regular army and since Croatia entered NATO he said almost everyone has some basic knowledge of English so as to be able to communicate with others NATO troops. The guys in my unit encouraged me to ask lots of questions during class time using bad grammar and mixing English and Croatian so they could all have a good laugh at our instructors face when I would raise my hand. I was happy to oblige.😁 Like I said before it was a positive experience and I am glad that I did it.
@nickynamey1639 Look. I lived in Bulgaria when it was under the Soviet Union, and we had to do 2 years of service, and this hardly went for many of the recruits. The problem in those countries is the mindset of society that if you haven't served, you're not a man! This definitely won't install any patriotic thoughts in the youths. Bulgaria currently faces a demographic crisis, and in several years, there would hardly be any young people in the villages, which I presume also counts for Croatia. It won't install anything. It'll just give excuses for some guys with huge ego torment those who they think are low.
It does'nt sound wrong learn to handle firearms, doing camping stuff and it's all paid for. Would young man that are not etnic Croatians from other countries that have moved to Croatia also do military service?
Hi there, thank you for the comment. Not necessarily. Croatia only has the capacity to take 4000 to 4500 people at once, and there are far more young Croatian men than that. Also, you can conscientously object. That means instead of military service, you can do civil service, which is learning first aid and helping with community projects.
Im a 20 year old male living in the USA and am working on getting duel citizenship with Croatia. Im anxiously awaiting these decisions as they affect me greatly.
Hi Noah, I imagine you are anxious to get more answers. We are following this closely and will share updates as we have them. They did just confirm that military service will be 2 months, which means civil service will be 4 months. As small updates happen, we share them in our newsletter. Once this legislation is final, I'll make a brand new video to summarize everything. If you need any help with your Croatian citizenship, please let us know. :)
Just to add a little insight into this topic from someone who has lived it.
In 1995 when I moved to Croatia for a job I received my draft notice to do my compulsory military service for 10 months.
I was sent to Koprivnica for 3 months of basic training then to Borongaj in Zagreb for my work assignment. Basic training was interesting, I was put in a “special” class of recruits who didn’t really fit in with the other young 18 year olds. We were all between 25-28 from a variety of backgrounds. ( if you have ever watched the movie Stripes with Bill Murray it was kind of like that)
We had 4 from Germany, one French foreign Legion dropout , a failed police recruit, a HOS veteran who’s fighting on the front lines during the war was not recognized, a merchant sailor a few petty criminals who spent time in jail and one guy who had some mental issues and a few guys who avoided service while in university and me the American.
We were kept away from the normal recruits so as not to set a bad example since all of us were already developed individuals and couldn’t be broken down and built up again like the 18 year olds could.
At times it sucked like guard duty at 3:00am outside in -15C weather at other times the jokes and laughter helped build a bond among us. Almost 30 years later I still stay in contact with some of my old buddies from the army and I am glad I served and would highly recommend it to everyone.
I feel that a well designed program of 3 or 4 months would be all that is needed today to help this young generation to mature and develop some skills and install a sense of pride and patriotism. I see this as something very positive for everyone.
Wow, thank you for sharing this! Sounds like your unit was quite the eclectic, rag tag bunch of individuals! Very interesting, indeed. I'm glad to hear that you found it to be a good experience, made some lifelong friends and think it would be good for young people now. That's really positive, overall. Thank you again for taking the time to share the experience that you had. I'm certain it will be helpful to others.
We are getting questions from Croatian citizens who are concerned about being drafted because they don't speak Croatian. Did you speak Croatia when you were in the service? Did the others with you?
@@ExpatinCroatia I spoke “kitchen Croatian” meaning just in my family and to my grandparents. Mainly a mix of English and basic Croatian words at a 3rd grade level. It wasn’t until I started living there and listening to Croatian constantly that I started to pick up more vocabulary. ( I was taught all the swear words first 😉.)In the Army there was one German-Croatian who hardly spoke any but the others filled in the gaps and he was able to figure out what was being said.
When you saw everyone doing push-ups it wasn’t hard to figure out that you had to do them as well.
My biggest problem was some technical military terms I never heard before but the other guys explained it to me in English.
That was almost 30 years ago today I am sure everyone knows some English today. A friend is in the regular army and since Croatia entered NATO he said almost everyone has some basic knowledge of English so as to be able to communicate with others NATO troops.
The guys in my unit encouraged me to ask lots of questions during class time using bad grammar and mixing English and Croatian so they could all have a good laugh at our instructors face when I would raise my hand. I was happy to oblige.😁
Like I said before it was a positive experience and I am glad that I did it.
@nickynamey1639 Look. I lived in Bulgaria when it was under the Soviet Union, and we had to do 2 years of service, and this hardly went for many of the recruits. The problem in those countries is the mindset of society that if you haven't served, you're not a man! This definitely won't install any patriotic thoughts in the youths. Bulgaria currently faces a demographic crisis, and in several years, there would hardly be any young people in the villages, which I presume also counts for Croatia. It won't install anything. It'll just give excuses for some guys with huge ego torment those who they think are low.
Thank you Sarah! My son is looking wide eyed! My cousins are laughing and telling him it will make him a man!
It's not us deleting your comments. UA-cam does delete comments automatically if they feel they violate their guidelines.
Happy to hear that it was informative for your family. :)
It's easy to talk about it when you don't have to do it
Yes, for sure. That's how it is with everything.
It’s 2024. Women need to serve.
Speaking for myself personally, as the individual Sara and not on behalf of my company Expat in Croatia, I agree!
UA-cam isn't a Croatian company, so Croatia isn't responsible for deleting your comments.
Does this apply to Croatian citizens abroad??????
Thanks for the question! The government has not yet answered this question. As soon as they have, we will announce it here.
Foreigner can join military service ??
This policy is only for Croatian citizens.
It does'nt sound wrong learn to handle firearms, doing camping stuff and it's all paid for. Would young man that are not etnic Croatians from other countries that have moved to Croatia also do military service?
This policy only applies to Croatian citizens.
Does this mean ill HAVE to go to the army?
I live in Croatia and i really dont wanna. Im a pacifist😢
Hi there, thank you for the comment. Not necessarily. Croatia only has the capacity to take 4000 to 4500 people at once, and there are far more young Croatian men than that. Also, you can conscientously object. That means instead of military service, you can do civil service, which is learning first aid and helping with community projects.