Pendeš admits large number of soldiers are leaving, modernization of BiH Armed Forces needed

BiH Minister of Defense Marina Pendeš stated at today's press conference that the current staffing level of the Armed Forces is 90% and that an internal advertisement for the recruitment of officers without age restrictions up to 27 years will be published, writes the Patria agency.

Although the outflow of members of the BiH Armed Forces is large, there is interest in recruitment. The Minister said that the Law on Amendments to the Law on Salaries in BiH Institutions is in procedure, which will enable civilians serving in the BiH Armed Forces assigned to health-hazardous duties to receive compensation. Likewise, a Decision on specific salary supplements is being prepared, which will give members of the BiH Armed Forces who are on guard duty, exercises, or stationary communication hubs priority for salary compensation.

Pendeš said that in the coming years, members of the BiH Armed Forces at all locations will have meals in accordance with the valid Regulation on Nutrition. A procedure has also been initiated to determine responsibility for the procurement of defective cans.

Regarding regional arms control, Pendeš emphasized that a review of exchanged information and the implementation of the inspection regime over the past year determined that the armaments limited by the Agreement on Sub-Regional Arms Control, which are in the possession of the Agreement's members (Bosnia and Herzegovina, Montenegro, the Republic of Croatia, and the Republic of Serbia), are within the approved limits.

Comparing the salaries of BiH Armed Forces members with soldiers from Serbia, Macedonia, and Montenegro, she said they are almost the same, but due to insufficient allocations for the Ministry of Defense and the BiH Armed Forces, which amount to less than 1% of GDP, modernization of the BiH Armed Forces has not occurred so far. The average defense spending in NATO countries is about 2% of GDP. She mentioned that the BiH Council of Ministers approved the Modernization Plan of the BiH Armed Forces as a multi-year project that needs to be implemented if we want to continue having operational, successful Armed Forces that will worthily perform their tasks and be of benefit and pride to every resident of BiH.

Pendeš also announced the REGEX exercise, which will be held in October in BiH, with the participation of 14 partner countries at the initiative of the NATO Joint Force Command in Naples, and for the first time it is being held in a country that is not a NATO member.