Croatian troops ordered to take time off amid economic crisis
07/02/2010
ZAGREB, Croatia -- Army Chief of Staff Slavko Baric said on Friday (February 5th) that almost half of the country's troops have been sent on a prolonged unpaid holiday because of national budget constraints. Speaking to local television channel HTV, Baric added that the vacation of all brigades who are not operational will last until the spring. The army has 16,000 troops, 7,000 of whom are without operational tasks. (DPA, Bild - 05/02/10)