SARAJEVO, June 21 (Hina) - The Bosnian Federation government does not have enough money for severance wages for all members of the entity's army who reported for voluntary discharge, an official said, adding that this might have
disastrous consequences for the situation in the army and the defence ministry.
SARAJEVO, June 21 (Hina) - The Bosnian Federation government does
not have enough money for severance wages for all members of the
entity's army who reported for voluntary discharge, an official
said, adding that this might have disastrous consequences for the
situation in the army and the defence ministry. #L#
Only 7,000 of 10,000 members of the federal army who should be
dismissed from active military service this year have each received
the promised severance pay of 10,000 convertible marks, Martin
Francesevic, the federal defence minister's chief-of-staff, told
reporters in Sarajevo on Friday.
The rest have not received severance wages and it is not known when
it might happen as the federal government lacks KM30 million to meet
its commitment to officers who volunteered for dismissal.
Defence Minister Mijo Anic said he would resign if the problem was
not solved by July 1. He thinks he is morally responsible for
keeping the promise given former soldiers and officers.
The KM70 million the federal government has paid out came from funds
Bosnia-Herzegovina received based on an agreement on succession to
the former Yugoslavia. The remaining 30 million was to be secured by
the International Monetary Fund (IMF), but Francesevic said this
had not happened yet.
He said the IMF had announced it would secure the funds by mid-June
but was now saying this could occur in mid-July at the earliest.
This has caused panic at the federal Defence Ministry as contracts
signed with those who volunteered for dismissal state that unless
severance wages are paid by June 30, the officers are automatically
reinstated into active military service with the right to three
wages.
The Defence Ministry says it cannot resolve this problem alone and
calls on the federal government to take a commercial credit and pay
out the promised severance wages in order to avoid the further
escalation of the issue.
After reorganisation, the federal army would have 9,200 Bosniak and
4,000 Croat members.
(hina) ha sb