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In Slovenia, the army does not pass NATO tests. The fired leader

Training of the 72nd brigade (credit: MORS 2014 - Archives B2)

(B2) The 72nd Maribor Brigade was declared "unfit" in a series of tests conducted by NATO evaluators to assess combat capability (combat readiness assessment). A blow for one of the main units of the Slovenian army which causes an earthquake in the army.

Rating: 1 out of 5

The verdict of the NATO evaluators is in. Ruthless! According to the website 24ur.com who revealed the information, the readiness of the battalion's battle group was rated "not combat ready" in four cases. Only one was recognized as “combat ready”. However, according to the NATO rules established according to the CREVAL method, it is enough to have two notes "not ready for combat" to have an "unfit" result.

The end of an 18 month training

This unit, which has the function of perform combat operations tasks across the entire spectrum of action, except special operationss”! had nevertheless prepared intensively for almost 18 months in Slovenia and in several countries (Germany, Czech Republic, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria or Georgia). The exercise organized in the Poček camp in Postojna from Tuesday to last Friday should therefore be the consecration of this training. The 800 men and women of the bridle were subjected to the final test.

Unsuitable shoes

The inabilities seem numerous, from the most important aspects to the smallest details. On the tactical side, the weakness is obvious. " Soldiers didn't even know how to move around the battlefield notes a reviewer quoted by 24ur.com. On the equipment side, it's not better. Six soldiers doing the exercise required medical attention for frostbite. In question, the new shoes, bought by the Ministry of Defense, turned out to be so bad that the soldiers " discarded after two weeks of use ". The " new shoes supplied by the ministry were unsuitable for winter conditions says our Slovenian colleague.

Years of shortages have worn down armies

« We've been ringing the alarm bells for years said army spokesman Simon Korez. " Our equipment is old and worn ". And " we are under-resourced, both financially and in terms of staff, even though our missions have multiplied (see box).

Chief of staff fired

The reaction did not drag on. Slovenian Prime Minister Miro Cerar announced on Thursday (22 February) the dismissal of the Chief of Defense Staff after forces failed NATO aptitude tests and criticism of the lack of means allocated to defense. " Since the Chief of Staff has the ultimate responsibility for the preparation of the troops, the work and the operational use of all units, the government fired General Andrej Osterman ", did he declare. A month was given to the Minister of Defense, Andreja Katic, to take the necessary measures to ensure the combat readiness of the 72nd brigade (1).

A badly experienced humiliation

Very angry, the Prime Minister spoke of humiliation for the armed forces. A humiliation...also for the government and, in particular, Defense Minister Andreja Katic, who say they were not given the report and learned of the news from the media. However, the Slovenian military has been warning for years about the deplorable state of the armed forces. The new chief of staff (CHOD), who is none other than Osterman's deputy, Alan Geder, had moreover strongly protested some time ago about this state of affairs.

Commentary: De Villiers “jurisprudence”

It's becoming a habit now. As soon as a head of government (or state) feels called into question by the weakness but above all by criticism of the state of his armed forces, he fires the head. This relieves for a moment. This makes it possible to assert its (small) power. But the problems remain intact. And the effect is often disastrous within the forces. The example of the dismissal in France of Pierre de Villiers showed it. The reputation of Emmanuel Macron (who had nevertheless made a good start) was seriously damaged within the armies. Several months after this event, he still has not recovered, despite respecting his promises and the concrete announcement of an increase in the budget of the armies in 2018.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde, with AFP)


The result of a slow divestment

This news is not really surprising. According to NATO statistics analyzed by B2, the share of the Slovenian defense budget in GDP fell sharply from 1,61% in 2010 to 0,98% three years later in 2013, only rising painfully to 1,02 .2015% in 2016 and 1. That is six good years of budgetary scarcity. This is a noteworthy point. But it is above all the budget devoted to equipment, which is ridiculously low, which is very worrying. Less than 2014% of the defense budget in 2016 was devoted to equipment, only rising in 6 to 20%. Very far from the NATO (and EU) standard which sets the minimum ratio of budget devoted to equipment at XNUMX%.

Only consolation for Slovenia, it is not the only one in the depths of the classification. Other countries such as Belgium (0,91%), Spain (0,92%), Hungary (1,05%) are in the depths of the NATO ranking in terms of the weight of defense in GDP. And on the equipment side, we can mention three bad students: Belgium (5,30%), Montenegro (8,20%) or Croatia (9,07%), which do not even reach half of the objective of equipment, i.e. a critical level to ensure minimum renewal and maintenance.

(Nicolas Gros-Verheyde)


(1) All is not lost however. The unit may request a new assessment. But the Slovenian forces still need to be ready. This will probably require several more months before a mixed team of evaluators (Slovene and NATO) can give the green light.

Nicolas Gros Verheyde

Chief editor of the B2 site. Graduated in European law from the University of Paris I Pantheon Sorbonne and listener to the 65th session of the IHEDN (Institut des Hautes Etudes de la Défense Nationale. Journalist since 1989, founded B2 - Bruxelles2 in 2008. EU/NATO correspondent in Brussels for Sud-Ouest (previously West-France and France-Soir).

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