Defense Minister Radu Miruta declared on Tuesday that he would not sign any document that would eliminate the food allowance for Romanian Army soldiers.
He was asked in Parliament about a proposal from the Ministry of Finance regarding the elimination of the food allowance for employees in the budgetary apparatus, including in the defense sector, discussed on Monday in the governing coalition.
"I tell you, as Minister of Defense, I am not signing a document that involves the elimination of a food norm for the Romanian Army soldiers, which has existed permanently since Cuza. It is a specific, caloric food norm, depending on activity, for the Romanian Army soldiers, which has been capped since 2017. Beyond the fact that it has been capped since 2017 and is no longer related to current prices, it maintains the canteen activity for 70% of the employees of the Ministry of Defense, an activity that cannot be eliminated from the military area. It was designed precisely with the aim of offering more options and being prepared in case of war, in case of specific needs of the Romanian Army," explained Miruta, at the end of a hearing at the Defense Committee of the Chamber of Deputies.
According to him, there are areas in the Ministry of Defense where spending cuts can be made. "The reduction in spending cannot come from eliminating the food allowance, it cannot come from reducing salaries, from reducing the number of military personnel, and it cannot come from changing the way military pensions are calculated."
"There are activities that are currently being quantified at the Ministry of Defense, which can reduce some costs. There are budgets for some collateral activities that I believe can still be reduced. But, for the food quota, I cannot support something like that," Radu Miruta added.
Asked whether the coalition meeting on Monday discussed eliminating the food allowance for absolutely all employees of the Ministry of National Defense or only those who are civilians, he replied: "As you can see, some are the ones who leak what is discussed during coalition meetings. While there was a joint statement issued by the four parties..."
"For the Ministry of Defense area - I have the same opinion for the rest of the entities in the public order system - you cannot eliminate something that has existed, I don't know, since 1859 - 1860. (...) For the Army to function, not only soldiers are needed, because there are administrative matters - Legal matters are needed, Financial matters are needed so that the Army can function and so that the soldiers can be in combat readiness. It is a team in itself that forms and composes the Romanian Army," the minister pointed out.
He specified that the Ministry of Defense currently has 75,000 employees. "I do not agree, even for a small part of those employed at the Ministry of Defense," to eliminate the food allowance, the minister emphasized.
Radu Miruţă mentioned that he will not resign if the food allowance is cut: "No. I say that we are a political force in this coalition and, for this to happen, the Minister of Defense must sign or the Government must make a decision over the Minister of Defense. I use all the levers at my disposal not to approve such a decision. (...) A decision was not made for this to happen. There was a discussion with a proposal discussed yesterday."
According to him, based on all calculations made so far, there has been no reduction in the food allowance. "The form put up for public debate of the two reorganization projects, please, this administrative and economic restart package, have not included this food allowance so far. It suddenly appeared (the proposal), I suddenly tell you that I do not support this for the reasons I said earlier," the minister pointed out.
"At the level of discussion in the coalition, the starting point was the principle that some exceptions are made for the military area, contributing the military area not with a quantifiable 10%, but finding some reductions that can still be made. We are against the wind with a war on the border to reduce the number of soldiers, to reduce the income of the military, of reservists, of retirees, of veterans. From the fact that initially it was accepted that this would be an exception, we end up cutting more, exactly where did we say it was an exception? In other words, this country must reduce its expenses. Some reckless spending was made, we reached the bottom of the bag from some bad decisions, it doesn't matter what happened, we can't turn back time, we are a responsible Government that says out loud that state spending must be reduced. I'm not saying that I'm more exceptional than the exception, nor am I saying that I need an additional budget from Education or from hospitals or from Transport, but the Romanian Army is the one that generates this security behind which the economic environment, the healthcare environment, and the educational environment can take place. We can't discuss the growth of the business environment, we can't discuss encouraging investments, if we have security risks. It's an umbrella under which other things take place," explained Radu Miruta.
He drew attention to the fact that the level of recruitment in the Romanian Army is 60%. "Do you think that if we reduce these amounts, people will flock to come or will they leave? (...) I am telling you that the Ministry of Defense needs to increase expenses, not decrease them. I am telling you that increasing these expenses does not mean that in the entire spectrum in which money is spent under the MApN, expenditure cuts cannot be made. They can be made because not all the money is for salaries, for pensions and for endowments. There is still money that is spent in the Romanian Army that I have begun to identify that can be made more efficient," the minister said.
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