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OSCE urges cuts in defence spending by Bosnia and Herzegovina
SARAJEVO 28 January 2002
SARAJEVO, 28 January 2002 - Representatives of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) have urged the Government of the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina to cut military expenditures in a meeting today, held at the country's Central Bank.
During the meeting with representatives of the Federation's political leadership, the OSCE and IMF officials outlined the situation of the defence budget and proposed essential steps. They also reminded the Federation authorities that difficult but unavoidable decisions lay ahead.
"The restructuring and transformation of the Federation armed forces must be accelerated", said Robert Beecroft, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He warned that a serious budget crisis was looming, and that the Federation's 2002 military budget would be fully exhausted before mid-year if no early corrective action was taken.
"Preliminary evidence indicates that the proposed Republika Srpska military budget is also economically unsustainable", he said. The Republika Srpska and the Federation together form the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Last year, the OSCE Mission outlined the high military expenditure in an information initiative, which received widespread public attention. The OSCE Mission sees today's meeting as the next step in increasing the awareness of those responsible, as well as of their voters.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija, as well as the Federation Ministers of Finance and Defence and observers from Republika Srpska. The participants agreed on a follow-up meeting later this week and the establishment of a working group on the issue of demobilized soldiers.
A similar meeting to the one with the Federation authorities will be held in Republika Srpska, once a review of the entity's military audit is concluded.
During the meeting with representatives of the Federation's political leadership, the OSCE and IMF officials outlined the situation of the defence budget and proposed essential steps. They also reminded the Federation authorities that difficult but unavoidable decisions lay ahead.
"The restructuring and transformation of the Federation armed forces must be accelerated", said Robert Beecroft, the Head of the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina. He warned that a serious budget crisis was looming, and that the Federation's 2002 military budget would be fully exhausted before mid-year if no early corrective action was taken.
"Preliminary evidence indicates that the proposed Republika Srpska military budget is also economically unsustainable", he said. The Republika Srpska and the Federation together form the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Last year, the OSCE Mission outlined the high military expenditure in an information initiative, which received widespread public attention. The OSCE Mission sees today's meeting as the next step in increasing the awareness of those responsible, as well as of their voters.
The meeting was attended by the Prime Minister of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Zlatko Lagumdzija, as well as the Federation Ministers of Finance and Defence and observers from Republika Srpska. The participants agreed on a follow-up meeting later this week and the establishment of a working group on the issue of demobilized soldiers.
A similar meeting to the one with the Federation authorities will be held in Republika Srpska, once a review of the entity's military audit is concluded.