ARMIES OF BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA

30 PERCENT LESS ARMY

AIM Sarajevo, February 26, 1999

The B&H Presidency has launched an initiative for the reduction of the total expenses for the military effective strength of the Army of B&H Federation (VF) and the Army of the Republic of Srpska by 30 percent. This proposal is in line with the Agreement on Subregional Arms Control signed in 1996 by Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia and Yugoslavia. In addition, military service shall be shortened to six months as well as the number of soldiers in both armies.

It is envisaged that the Federation Army (VF) can have 33 thousand military professionals out of which 23 thousand in the B&H Army, predominantly Bosniacs, and 10 thousand in the Croatian Defence Council (HVO). This maximum has not been reached yet so that at the moment this Army numbers some 30 thousand professional soldiers. In addition, there are 12 thousand conscripts in the B&H Army and 2 thousand in HVO. All this taken together and coupled with the cost of wages, food, uniforms and especially arms for some 45 thousand members of the VF, we get an enormous amount.

THE CROATS AND DELIC

The B&H Federation has allocated DEM 400 million for 1999 military budget which is not enough to cover even the wages of B&H Army and HVO officers. Namely, this year some DEM 450 million should be allocated for these wages only. That is why Zagreb is financing military professionals in HVO by allocating 690 million kunas (below DEM 200 million) from the budget of the Republic of Croatia. It is claimed that this entire amount is used for the wages of officers and soldiers of four HVO guard brigades.

Croatian officials in the B&H Federation have been constantly pointing out to the need for reducing the number of professionals, which implies the reduction of both parts of the VF so that the ratio would remain 2.5 to 1 for the B&H Army. The Croats also add that the VF does not need so many men and combat equipment since it is now a NATO member and that since the Republic of Croatia is not the enemy of Bosnia and Herzegovina as far as Zagreb is concerned the entire federal territory can be demilitarized.

The Bosniac side does not share that opinion. General Delic accepts the possibility of reducing the overall effective strength in armies of Croatia, Yugoslavia and B&H, and that within Bosnia and Herzegovina both the VF and the Army of the Republic of Srpska can be smaller, but warns: "The Army of the Federation can reduce the number of its soldiers, but only after Croatia and Yugoslavia do the same. If only the Federation Army is reduced it would be thereby placed in an inferior position in relation to obligations of each of these armies in protecting the integrity and sovereignty of their territories". Those in the Federation who demand the reduction of army personnel point to the example of the Republic of Slovenia which now has the same population as B&H since half of the inhabitants of Bosnia are either in exile or live somewhere as refugees. In other words, with its 2 million inhabitants Slovenia has only 5.5 thousand professional soldiers. Advocates of this proposal do not think that the VF should have the same number of professional soldiers as Slovenia, but that some 10 thousand of them would be quite enough.

SHORTER MILITARY SERVICE

It seems that General Rasim Delic is aware that the Army costs a lot and that it is necessary to cut its expenses. That is why he has launched a proposal on the shortening of military service in the VF from 12 to six months. Deputies of the House of Representatives of the Federal Assembly will state their opinion on this when discussing amendments to the Defence Law.

At the time when the B&H Army was transformed into a professional one, as much as 70 thousand candidates applied, but after medical examination and tests many of them had to withdraw. The short list contained some 30 thousand names and they were used to fill the army quota, while formation posts for some deficient specializations are still vacant. Even before the expiry of their first three-year contract some men left the army service as they were unable to meet the requirements. Obviously, such men came to the Army by mistake as they lost sight of all the hardships and trials they would have to face as members of the military.

Undoubtedly, another reason is rapid reduction of the number of soldiers in both VF and HVO as the process of arms donations within the programme "Equip and Train" has been exhausted so that the emphasis is now on the training and exercise. The Federation got 300 pieces of artillery (tanks, carriers, howitzers and transport helicopters) worth some US 90 million. And that's that. Future procurement of arms, equipment and spare parts will have to be financed from the Federation's own budget. The more so as this equipment was acquired as a present, mostly used, frequently breaks down and is in need of overhaul.

CARE OF ARMS

Apart from artillery, the Federation Army has not achieved the arms balance with the army of the Bosnian Serbs with which it lives in the same state, not to mention armies of Croatia and Yugoslavia. For example, the Federal Army can have 273 tanks while it has barely 200. Similarly, it should have some 227 armoured carriers, but their actual number is much smaller. Likewise, the number of envisaged combat planes or ground-attack helicopters is 41, but the Federation has only 14. Just recently the VF Air Force got 15 helicopters from the Americans. However these were not combat but carrier helicopters of the "Iroquois" type. This helicopter is good for the Bosniacs, but the Americans have already stopped using it as they have introduced a new generation of these aircrafts.

It seems that the Republic of Croatia wants to set an example for the Army of the Federation because Zagreb has decided to reduce its military force to 65 thousand soldiers. In other words, a number of professional soldiers will have to look for another job. It only remains to be seen how many will be dismissed since figures between 13 thousand and 4 thousand soldiers are being mentioned.

As far as Yugoslavia is concerned, data on the the total number of men in her army are rather unreliable. The Belgrade officials did not provide the OSCE with precise data on that. According to some estimates the Army of Yugoslavia today numbers between 60 and 80 thousand soldiers and the same number of policemen. Military analysts even think that the number of armed policemen is much higher than the number of soldiers. Belgrade has economic problems and has every reason to reduce its military apparatus, but the situation in Kosovo and NATO threats have additionally complicated the situation so that the military strength is probably larger as some reserve forces have also been mobilized.

Djuro KOZAR