The president of the Bosnian Republic of Srpska has proposed the complete demilitarization of Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH) and has pushed for the abolition of armed forces before Monday's session of the entity parliament, local media reported, Xinhua said.
Milorad Dodik called for an end to the military for economic and jurisdictional reasons, according to Bosnia news agency Fena.
Dodik said the 10,000 members of the Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces were a "bulky and unnecessary apparatus that consumes huge amounts of money without much benefit".
"Audit reports for the Ministry of Defense, every time, show numerous violations of regulations and irrational spending, which points to the need to reconsider the existence of the armed forces in the present form and possible demilitarization of Bosnia," said Dodik.
With an estimated annual budget of 450 million U.S. dollars, the cost of the army accounts for 4.5 percent of Bosnia's GDP.
With respect to the defense of the country, Dodik said there was no "danger of a military threat to the territorial integrity and sovereignty (of BiH)." He added that both NATO and European military forces were sufficient to guarantee peace in the region.
Source: bne