Professional soldiers will be able to stay in the Army after 45: a fix for a problem more than 15 years old

In the Army, 45 was the cut-off. A professional soldier at that age could take severance pay or ask to move to another institution, and the uniform was left behind. Yesterday the government adopted a decision that changes this: soldiers who turn 45 will be able to stay in the Army as civilians, on permanent contracts.

The solution was presented by Defence Minister Vlado Misajlovski, Chief of the General Staff Major General Saško Lafčiski, and representatives of the defence trade unions. "All the options remain - severance, transfer to institutions - but with this reform we are making it possible for every soldier to stay in the Army as a civilian," Misajlovski said. According to the press conference, the basic salary and all allowances stay the same, and retirement follows the existing rules.

What will they do? They will be assigned to units securing garrisons, barracks and Army property - a task that units have so far carried as an extra, "tertiary" duty. The professional soldiers' union also lists postings close to home, rent compensation, a retirement bonus, an army allowance, recognition of higher education and a five percent allowance for shift work.

It sounds like good news, and it most likely is. But the most telling sentence came from Lafčiski himself: the question of soldiers' status after 45 "has been dragging on for more than 15 years". Fifteen years in which governments, ministers and chiefs of staff came and went, while every generation of soldiers ran into the same wall. The union did not miss the chance to say that Army personnel "know who helped them" when things were hardest.

Two things remain open. The solution, as the minister admitted, is not part of the collective agreement, and negotiations on that are continuing. And second: the decision has to be turned into a new organisational structure with real jobs in the barracks. Will that happen before the next generation turns 45?