ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - Reforms in the armed forces are difficult but inevitable, Croatian Defence Minister Jozo Rados said in response to an article released by the "Globus" weekly on Monday which notes that 80 percent of the
Croatian Army soldiers fear for their jobs due to the impending reforms.
ZAGREB, April 29 (Hina) - Reforms in the armed forces are difficult
but inevitable, Croatian Defence Minister Jozo Rados said in
response to an article released by the "Globus" weekly on Monday
which notes that 80 percent of the Croatian Army soldiers fear for
their jobs due to the impending reforms. #L#
"The public has perceived (the reforms) in a negative light and a
climate has been created which doesn't help such difficult but
unavoidable reforms," Rados told journalists in Zagreb following a
lecture called "Security and Human Rights".
The article "Fear in the Army", which the weekly released as its
cover story, is backed with the results of a survey conducted by the
Defence Ministry ahead of the reorganisation of the Armed Forces
and the dismissal of 13,000 soldiers.
Headlines like this make the Ministry's task even more difficult,
Rados said.
He explained the need for reforms stating that in peace time the
country should not spend as much on its defence forces as it had.
Personnel costs that account for 74 percent of all costs cannot
allow development within the Armed Forces, he added.
"A cemented security, which in reality is poverty, is something
that must be abandoned," Minister Rados said.
"I expect that based on some minimum security, which is being
offered to Croatian soldiers in the form of early retirement and
active reserves, the soldiers will not lose their privileges which
other citizens in Croatia do not enjoy and in the end turn to
economic activities," Rados said.
(hina) sp sb