Hungary Plans to Slash Armed Forces 25% Over 2 Years
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BUDAPEST, Hungary — Prime Minister Miklos Nemeth said Friday that Hungary will slash its armed forces by up to 25% in the next two years, scrapping many offensive weapons and regrouping them away from its western frontier.
He also announced a shake-up in the defense command, replacing the army chief of staff and dismissing three deputy ministers.
Addressing top Defense Ministry officials, Nemeth said the unilateral cuts are designed to promote success at the Vienna talks on conventional forces in Europe, the state news agency MTI reported.
The cuts in hardware and personnel are on top of a 9% reduction announced last January for implementation by the end of 1990.
“These cuts are being made for a combination of both financial and political expediency,” a Western defense attache said, noting Hungary’s budgetary problems and the unpopularity of the army.
In the reshuffle Friday, Lt. Gen. Laszlo Borsits replaces Col. Gen. Jozsef Pacsek as army chief of staff. Ferenc Karpati remains defense minister and Maj. Gen. Ferenc Szombathelyi was appointed deputy minister.
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