Further Cuts Expected for Belgian Military: Report
AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE
Published: 9 Sep 2009 08:07
BRUSSELS - Belgium is planning new cuts to its military and senior officers are concerned the kingdom will not be able to successfully carry out its operations abroad, Le Soir newspaper reported Sept. 9.
According to leaks to the Belgian media last week, Defense Minister Pieter de Crem is preparing the heavy new reductions because of Belgium's budgetary problems.
The number of personnel would drop from 38,000 currently - including civilian staff - to 34,000 in 2013 and possibly to 32,000 or 30,000 in 2015, under a plan that de Crem requested from the head of the Belgian military.
Numbers stood at 44,000 in 1994.
About a dozen of the country's 30 military bases could also be closed.
According to Le Soir, the chief of military staff, Gen. Charles-Henri Delcourt, has threatened to veto any demand to extend Belgium's role in military operations abroad, a move without precedent.
Personnel in Afghanistan already face a shortage of protective flak jackets, Le Soir said, citing a military trade union representative. Belgian troops are also deployed in Kosovo, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Lebanon.
Help
