(ANSA) - BELGRADE, MAR 9 - Croatia has reintroduced mandatory military service for young men turning 19 this year, lasting two months. Today, the first 800 recruits entered three barracks that had been set up in recent months for basic military training. Conscription was abolished in 2008, a year before Croatia joined NATO, as part of a broad national defence reform implemented in the aftermath of the early 1990s war for independence. According to Defence Minister Ivan Anušić, the conservative government of Andrej Plenković decided to reintroduce it in response to growing security threats, hybrid actions, cyber attacks, and increasingly frequent natural disasters. The goal is to improve defence readiness and connect citizens with national security. (ANSA).