BRATISLAVA, June 2, (WEBNOVINY) — At the “We Asses Defense” conference held on Thursday in the Slovak capital, Slovak Defense Minister Lubomir Galko warned that his ministry will be forced to dismiss 4,000 members of armed forces or dissolve the air force unless the next year’s budget is higher than the currently proposed EUR 746 million, which equals 0.98 percent of GDP.
The ministry has prepared several alternatives to cope with its meager budget and Galko intends to submit them to the Cabinet in June. Lay-offs or elimination of some tasks depend on the volume of the budget for 2012. The ministry set limits and for each cap, it exactly defined things that will be eliminated unless the defense budget is increased. This means that the paper mentions a limit at which 4,000 army members will have to go, at which 2,000 of them will be dismissed and a limit with not a single soldier would have to be fired. According to the minister, layoffs are not the last resort; the outlines also work with closedown of barracks, elimination of air defense using supersonic fighter jets, or the newly opened center of excellence in Trencin and revaluation of Slovakia’s participation in foreign missions.
“We can get along with any budget, but we cannot on the one hand get less money and on the other hand be required to maintain the armed forces in their present form,” Galko noted. Crucial is the future financial framework. The future of the army should not be solely of the government’s interest but the entire political spectrum should strive to achieve a consensus on this issue.
To fulfill all existing tasks, the Defense Ministry needs a defense budget equal at least 1.5 percent of GDP. Galko reported that only two tasks of the Slovak army are being fulfilled to the full extent at present: the air defense and participation in crisis management operations. In all others commitments, Slovakia is lagging behind, the minister admitted.
SITA