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Italy cuts the size of its army
As Italy attempts to chip away at its mountainous public debt, the government's austerity drive has found a new target -- the armed forces. Long considered a hallowed institution that was immune from reform, the top-heavy army, navy and air force now face swingeing cuts in budgets and manpower.The number of generals and admirals will be cut by a third, one in five colonels will be axed and the armed forces overall will be reduced from 183,000 to 150,000. Civilian staff will be reduced from 30,000 to 20,000. Italy is one of the largest European contributors to the Nato-led force in Afghanistan and also has peacekeepers deployed in Kosovo and Lebanon. The cuts were announced to parliament by the defence minister, Giampaolo Di Paola, who is an admiral in the navy and a former military chief of staff. It is highly unusual for Italian defence ministers to be serving officers, but Di Paola was appointed as part of an unelected technocrat government which replaced the conservative coalition of Silvio Berlusconi in November, amid market jitters over Italy's massive debt. The cuts were of "fundamental importance" and needed the widest political support, the minister told parliament in Rome. They are part of a far-reaching defence spending review, with the military budget for this year slashed by nearly a third. Posted by: lotp 2012-04-28 |
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