Minister says NATO commitments will be honored despite budget constraints

The Defense Ministry budget was high on the agenda yesterday at the annual meeting between the army's top brass and government representatives, including President Aleksander Kwasniewski and Prime Minister Leszek Miller. This year the Ministry has been awarded just zl.14.5 billion, and claims that it needs an additional zl.2 billion in order to complete the army modernization program. However, Defense Minister Jerzy Szmajdzinski has denied reports that the budget cut-backs will prevent Poland from meeting its obligations to NATO. "It is not true that Poland has abandoned any of the 17 defense targets set for this year," Szmajdzinski insisted. He added that he did not foresee Poland having to abandon any of its commitments already agreed with NATO headquarters. However, the Defense Minister admitted that because of financial considerations, the implementation of some of the targets might have to be delayed. (Gazeta Wyborcza, p. 4) P.J.