ZAGREB, April 6 (Hina) - A proposal to abolish military service as of Jan. 1, 2002 is a hypothetical one and is open to debate, Defence Minister Jozo Rados said on Friday. Croatia can afford such a step as the fact that it has a
professional army which was formed in the war makes it specific in relation to other countries, he added.
ZAGREB, April 6 (Hina) - A proposal to abolish military service as
of Jan. 1, 2002 is a hypothetical one and is open to debate, Defence
Minister Jozo Rados said on Friday. Croatia can afford such a step
as the fact that it has a professional army which was formed in the
war makes it specific in relation to other countries, he added.#L#
Rados spoke to reporters at Zagreb's Pleso airport upon arriving
from Skopje, Macedonia where he took part in a conference of
Southeast European defence ministers.
"Croatia's situation is that it has a very big professional army, it
is our unique situation," said the minister, adding this gave
Croatia the possibility to "abolish military service, something
other countries cannot afford."
He said the speed in reducing the reserve forces was not linked to
that. "We can abolish military service and retain this big reserve
force for another ten years," the minister explained, adding that
would not jeopardise Croatia's security or its ability to defend
itself.
Speaking about the Skopje conference, Rados said it tackled the
security situation in Macedonia and gave a clear and unambiguous
support to Macedonia's efforts to preserve and defend its
sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The defence minister refuted allegations to the effect that
Croatian weaponry was being used in the Macedonian conflicts, but
did not rule out the possibility that in the future Croatia might
sell arms to Macedonia.
(hina) ha sb