DEFENCE SPENDING (3)

The Chief of Staff recommended the closure of five army barracks in order to achieve the necessary Dkr.2.7 billion of savings in the defence budget. However, after discussions amongst the politicians, that has been reduced to two and a half. Sønderborg and Fredericia will go; Haderslev, Bornholm and the life guards barracks will stay; Vordingborg will be shrunk.

Bornholm, being an island where jobs are scarce, was not surprisingly spared. But Sønderborg's closure most definitely was a surprise. Sønderborg lies in the Schleswig part of the old Schleswig-Holstein duchies. It is also the site of Dybbøl Banke, the 1864 defeat which had such an effect on the Danish psyche, and which led to Prussia's annexing the duchies.So closing the barracks there is somewhat akin to closing West Point in America or Sandhurst in England.

Politicians now say that the era of closures is over, and that the current constellation of facilities is sufficient for the future. Defence experts disagree. They predict that in four years' time, politicians will be going through this process yet again. The Chief of Staff gave his professional opinion on what was needed to modernise the  Danish army. That politicians have chosen to water down his proposals merely shows how political such decisions have become.

Walter Blotscher