SARAJEVO, Dec 23 (Hina) - The financial situation of the Croat-+Muslim Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina are below the level which +is necessary for maintaining the existing defence system, +Federation Defence Minister Miroslav Prce
warned on Wednesday.+ Prce told a news conference in Sarajevo that the minimal financial +needs of the Federation army for 1999 have been estimated at DM1.38 +billion. The Federation government has however, expressed +readiness to earmark only DM400 million for that purpose.+ "This won't even cover the salaries and meals of the existing +force", Prce said stressing that the whole defence system could +fall into "serious trouble" if Defence Ministry's estimates are not +taken seriously.+ The situation could be additionally aggravated by the fact that +there would probably be no more new donations, which so far have +arrived through the "Equip and Train" programme.+ "I
SARAJEVO, Dec 23 (Hina) - The financial situation of the Croat-
Muslim Federation of Bosnia-Herzegovina are below the level which
is necessary for maintaining the existing defence system,
Federation Defence Minister Miroslav Prce warned on Wednesday.
Prce told a news conference in Sarajevo that the minimal financial
needs of the Federation army for 1999 have been estimated at DM1.38
billion. The Federation government has however, expressed
readiness to earmark only DM400 million for that purpose.
"This won't even cover the salaries and meals of the existing
force", Prce said stressing that the whole defence system could
fall into "serious trouble" if Defence Ministry's estimates are not
taken seriously.
The situation could be additionally aggravated by the fact that
there would probably be no more new donations, which so far have
arrived through the "Equip and Train" programme.
"If the process of equipment comes to a halt now, we'll have a
useless army", Prce assessed.
The current situation called for serious reconsidering of the
existing number of soldiers in the Federation, totalling 33,000.
(hina) mm rml