-Caveat Lector-
<<Excuse my respectfully muffled laughter ...>>
>From TheIndependent(UK)
> <Picture><Picture: UK NEWS>
>
> <Picture>The Balkans Truce - MoD and Treasury row over who pays
>
> By Andrew Grice, Political Editor
>
>
>
>
>
> A dispute has broken out between the Defence Ministry and the Treasury
> over who should pick up the bill for Britain's military operations
> during the Kosovo crisis.
>
> George Robertson, Defence Secretary, says his stretched budget should
> be given a special top-up from the Treasury's £1.2bn "reserve kitty"
> to fund its work in the Balkans. But the Treasury insists the MoD
> meets a significant part of the spending from its own resources. So
> far the only costs disclosed by the Government are £40m for
> humanitarian relief and £37m for military operations. However, these
> figures exclude the cost of bombs dropped during the 10-week air
> campaign, which is expected to take the MoD's bill to more than £200m.
>
>
> Ministers say the military spending already incurred will be "peanuts"
> compared to the amounts Britain will have to contribute towards the
> cost of rebuilding the Balkans. The European Commission has estimated
> reconstruction costs at up to £3.9bn a year for five years. EU leaders
> are divided over whether the money should come from the EU's existing
> funds or whether member-states should make top-up payments.
>
> The Government may ask other countries to meet a higher share of the
> burden than Britain, on grounds that its 13,000 troops being sent to
> the region will play the leading role in enforcing the peace
> settlement accepted by President Milosevic last week.
>
> The long-term presence of British servicemen in Kosovo will fuel the
> row between the the MoD and the Treasury. A Treasury source dismissed
> the MoD's request for its extra costs to be met from the Government's
> reserve fund as "a try-on". He added: "If the armed services are not
> there to fight a war, what are they there for? It is misleading to
> suggest that all the costs incurred are extra."
>
> The Treasury is also unsympathetic to Mr Robertson's bid because, it
> claims, the MoD rejected its advice by refusing to set up a reserve
> kitty within its £22.3bn-a-year budget. The war in the Balkans also
> threatens to provoke a long-term battle over the level of defence
> spending. MoD officials believe they will need a bigger budget for
> Britain to play its part in Nato's role as a "world policeman".
>
> But Gordon Brown, the Chancellor, believes there is scope to secure a
> further "peace dividend" following the end of the Cold War. He sought
> £2bn of defence cuts during last year's strategic defence review, but
> had to settle for £500m after Tony Blair backed Mr Robertson.
>
> Yesterday Mr Blair hinted that he might side with his Chancellor in
> the battle over the cost of military operations in Kosovo. Asked on
> BBC TV's Breakfast with Frost programme whether the Treasury would
> foot the bill, Mr Blair replied: "Not necessarily".
>
> The Prime Minister insisted that the Government did not yet know how
> much it had spent during the Kosovo crisis. He said countries such as
> Macedonia, Albania, Romania and Bulgaria would would also need
> financial aid. "It is worth making that investment rather than coming
> back again and having to spend billions on fighting another conflict
> because we haven't given them the proper chance to rebuild
> themselves," said Mr Blair.
>
>
>
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