Military service is regaining interest among young Tunisians. According to Mokhtar Zekraoui, representative of the recruitment and mobilization directorate at the Ministry of National Defense, the number of candidates for conscription doubled in 2025 compared to the years 2022, 2023 and 2024.
This increase, he explains, results from a growing awareness among parents of the importance of regularizing the situation of their children in order to avoid legal proceedings, but also from the communication shift initiated by the ministry since 2024 to raise public awareness of the importance of national duty.
Since the start of the year, 40,000 young people have submitted regularization applications, an indicator described as very positive by the ministry.
To reach the categories most concerned, notably students, Defense carried out an unprecedented campaign: 1,200 posters were posted in universities to provide information on the conditions of conscription and the procedures for submitting applications.
Three ways to regularize your situation
Zekraoui recalls that three possibilities exist to be in good standing with the national service:
- The postponement,
- The exemption,
- Dual nationality (within the framework of agreements concluded with Algeria, Turkey and France).
Concerning the postponement, it is granted in particular to students continuing their studies without interruption of more than one year, without change of orientation and without registration in evening classes. It also applies to a brother currently in military service, for reasons of temporary health or family care situations.
Read also
