Officially confirmed

Serbia has a new government, military service reactivated

The new head of government is Milos Vučević.(Bild: AFP/OLIVER BUNIC)

Serbia's parliament confirmed the government of new Prime Minister Milos Vučević, leader of the Serbian Progressive Party (SNS), with 152 votes on Thursday afternoon. 61 MPs voted against.

According to Vučević, EU integration remains in the country's strategic interest. However, when presenting his government program on Wednesday, he also said that Brussels was making Serbia's rapprochement with the EU more difficult "with ever new criteria". Vučević presented his cabinet as a "government of continuity" and in this sense completely ruled out imposing sanctions against Russia.

Military service to be reintroduced
Former Defense Minister Vučević also announced the reintroduction of compulsory military service. However, this will only last four months.

The new government has 31 ministers. Aleksandar Vulin, the former head of the intelligence service BIA, has been appointed as one of the deputy heads of government and is a clearly pro-Russian politician. The former ambassador to Washington, Marko Djurić, is responsible for foreign policy.