Edited by Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe Guarding the Guards Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page i One Europe or Several? Series Editor: Helen Wallace The One Europe or Several? series examines contemporary processes of political, security, economic, social and cultural change across the European continent, as well as issues of convergence/divergence and prospects for integration and frag- mentation. Many of the books in the series are cross-country comparisons; others evaluate the European institutions, in particular the European Union and NATO, in the context of eastern enlargement. Titles include: Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster (editors) DEMOCRATIC CONTROL OF THE MILITARY IN POSTCOMMUNIST EUROPE Guarding the Guards Helen Wallace (editor) INTERLOCKING DIMENSIONS OF EUROPEAN INTEGRATION One Europe or Several? 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Customer Services Department, Macmillan Distribution Ltd, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS, England DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page ii Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe Guarding the Guards Edited by Andrew Cottey Department of Government, University College Cork/ Department of Peace Studies, University of Bradford Timothy Edmunds Defence Studies Department King’s College London / Joint Services Command and Staff College and Anthony Forster Defence Studies Department King’s College London / Joint Services Command and Staff College DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page iii Selection and editorial matter and chapters 1 and 14 © Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster 2002 Chapters 2–13 © Palgrave Publishers Ltd 2002 All rights reserved. No reproduction, copy or transmission of this publication may be made without written permission. No paragraph of this publication may be reproduced, copied or transmitted save with written permission or in accordance with the provisions of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988, or under the terms of any licence permitting limited copying issued by the Copyright Licensing Agency, 90 Tottenham Court Road, London W1P 0LP. Any person who does any unauthorised act in relation to this publication may be liable to criminal prosecution and civil claims for damages. The authors have asserted their rights to be identified as the authors of this work in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. First published 2002 by PALGRAVE Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire RG21 6XS and 175 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10010 Companies and representatives throughout the world PALGRAVE is the new global academic imprint of St. Martin’s Press LLC Scholarly and Reference Division and Palgrave Publishers Ltd (formerly Macmillan Press Ltd). ISBN 0–333–94624–3 This book is printed on paper suitable for recycling and made from fully managed and sustained forest sources. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data has been applied for 10987654321 11 10 09 08 07 06 05 04 03 02 Printed and bound in Great Britain by Antony Rowe Ltd, Chippenham, Wiltshire DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page iv Contents Foreword vii Preface ix Notes on Contributors xi 1 Introduction: the Challenge of Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Europe Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster 1 Part I Central Europe 2 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Postcommunist Poland: the Interplay of History, Political Society and Institutional Reform Paul Latawski 21 3 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in the Czech Republic: a Journey from Social Isolation Marie Vlachová and S ˇ tefan Sarvasˇ 44 4 Civil–Military Relations in Hungary: No Big Deal Pál Dunay 64 Part II The Baltic States 5 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Latvia Ilmars Viksne 91 6 The Challenges of Civil–Military Relations and Democratic Control of Armed Forces: the Case of Lithuania Vaidotas Urbelis and Tomas Urbonas 108 Part III South Eastern Europe 7 Defence Planning in Emerging Democracies: the Case of Romania Ioan Mircea Pascu 129 8 The Changing Nature of Civil–Military Relations in Post-Totalitarian Bulgaria Plamen Pantev 140 v DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page v 9 Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Slovenia Anton Bebler 159 10 ‘Like Drunken Geese in the Fog’: Developing Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Croatia Alex J. Bellamy 174 11 The European Exception: Civil–Military Relations in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (Serbia and Montenegro) James Gow 194 Part IV The Former Soviet Union 12 The Evolution of Civil–Military Relations in Russia Irina Isakova 215 13 The Development of Civil–Military Relations in Post-Soviet Ukraine Grigoriy Perepelitsa 233 Part V Conclusion 14 Soldiers, Politics and Defence in Postcommunist Europe Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster 251 Index 265 vi Contents DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page vi vii Foreword The collapse of communism in central and eastern Europe ushered in a series of political and economic reform challenges. Central among these was the reform of communist-era armed forces. The countries of central and eastern Europe have faced the complex challenges of securing democratic civilian control of their armed forces, instituting new struc- tures for the management of defence policy, downsizing and restruc- turing their militaries and developing new patterns of international military cooperation. Working alongside its NATO and European Union partners, the British government is actively supporting the countries of central and eastern Europe in addressing these challenges. The UK Ministry of Defence’s Directorate for Central and Eastern Europe has played a central role in this process of engagement through its Outreach programme. Estab- lished in 1994, the Outreach programme aims to assist in the develop- ment throughout the region of stable, sovereign and democratic states through the reform of their military institutions. Politically, Outreach aims to ensure that the UK remains engaged with Russia in order to build a cooperative defence relationship and to encourage the emergence of a democratic, politically stable and eco- nomically successful partner; to promote the establishment of demo- cratically accountable armed forces throughout central and eastern Europe; to provide reassurance to countries disappointed at not yet being invited to join NATO; and to provide opportunities to work with our partners and allies in NATO and the European Union. Militarily it aims to promote efficient, democratic defence practices in central and eastern Europe; increase interoperability between the forces of NATO and its eastern partners; and develop training and exercise opportunities for UK forces in the region. The practical benefits of defence cooperation with the countries of central and eastern Europe can be seen in their contri- butions to the NATO-led peace operations in Bosnia and Kosovo. We hope that by contributing to the realization of these objectives Outreach will promote regional stability and democracy and contribute significantly to building and maintaining trust and confidence between citizens and their armed forces, and between nations that until 1989 confronted each other across the Iron Curtain. It will therefore help to reduce the risk of a reversion to confrontation in Europe. DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page vii viii Foreword In this context, the Directorate for Central and Eastern Europe has been pleased to support the research project of which this volume is a product. With support from the UK Ministry of Defence, this research project has brought together academics, defence policy-makers and serving soldiers from both central and eastern Europe and the West to explore the challenges of reforming civil–military relations. It thus both contributes to our understanding of the challenges we face and provides a microcosm of international defence cooperation. This volume – the first of a series of four addressing different aspects of civil–military and defence reform in central and eastern Europe – is an important and policy-relevant contribution to our understanding of the problems of securing and consolidating democratic civilian control of armed forces and defence policy. As the conclusion suggests, much progress has been made in this area over the past decade but many challenges remain. Malcolm Haworth Director, Central and Eastern Europe, United Kingdom Ministry of Defence DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page viii ix Preface This book is the product of a research project on ‘The Transformation of Civil-Military Relations in Comparative Context’, funded by the Eco- nomic and Social Research Council’s ‘One Europe or Several?’ research programme (award number L213 25 2009). The project examines the transformation of civil-military relations in the countries of post- communist Central and Eastern Europe, exploring emerging patterns of civil-military relations in the region, the policy challenges these raise and the implications for more general understandings of the changing nature of civil-military relations in the contemporary world. Within this context, this book provides a comparative analysis of the experiences of the countries of postcommunist Europe in attempting to secure democratic control of armed forces. Three further volumes, also to be published in Palgrave’s ESRC ‘One Europe or Several?’ series, will address the issue of professionalization of armed forces in Central and Eastern Europe, wider military-society relations in the region and the overall challenge of reforming postcommunist militaries. The chapters in this book were first presented at a conference on ‘Democratic Control of Armed Forces in Central and Eastern Europe: Civil-Military Relations and Defence Planning in the New Era’, held in Kyiv, in March 2000. The conference was funded by the Directorate for Central and Eastern Europe of the UK Ministry of Defence and held in conjunction with the Kyiv office of the EastWest Institute. We wish to express our thanks to Oleksandr Pavliuk, director of the EastWest Institute’s Kyiv office, the staff of that office, and the participants in the conference. Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds, Anthony Forster DCMPR 10/18/01 5:18 PM Page ix [...]... in this area The third element of democratic control of the military relates to the military s role in foreign policy, in particular decisions on the use of military force Democratic control of the military implies that the state’s foreign policy, including decisions on the deployment and use of force, should be under the control of the democratic civilian authorities Again, however, decisions on the. .. example, in parts of Latin America in the 1970s) as the primary problem in establishing democratic control of armed forces In practice, and certainly in postcommunist Europe, the picture is often more complicated Civilian elites may seek to draw the military into politics, whether as an instrument of political power under the control of president, government or parliament or as a means of gaining the political... acceptance of democratic, civilian control of the armed forces Thus, as a number of the chapters in this book point out, among the most immediate tasks facing new postcommunist governments were the dismantling of the institutions of communist in uence within the armed forces (such as Communist Party cells), the reform of communist military education systems and the removal of those elements of the of cer... to military intervention in politics than a more divided society In the latter case, the military may intervene on one side or the other, or political groups may attempt to gain the support of the military As James Gow’s chapter on the FRY emphasizes, the absence of an accepted, ‘legitimate’ political community has lain at the root of the problems of civil military relations in the former Yugoslavia.8... system of communist civilian control of the military to one of democratic civilian control Moreover, as a number of the chapters in this volume illustrate, the experience of civilian communist control, combined with the often only skin-deep loyalty of the armed forces to the communist system, has made the transition to democratic civilian control of the military – at least as this relates to the military s... in individual countries; and to outline the range of factors likely to shape the prospects for the establishment of democratic control of the military A number of initial conclusions may be drawn from this introductory analysis First, while the countries of postcommunist Europe share the common legacy of communist civil military relations, the impact of that legacy and the nature of the challenge in. .. Ministry of Defence staffed at least in part by civilians (in particular at higher levels and key policy-making positions); • the subordination of the military General Staff to the Ministry of Defence; • a degree of transparency with regard to the defence budget While these institutional dimensions may be vital elements of any system of democratic control of the military, the effective functioning of. .. should remain the apolitical servant of the democratic government The second element of democratic control of the military relates to the control of defence policy (understood as the broad direction of the development of the armed forces, encompassing defence budgeting, force structure, equipment procurement and overall military strategy) Democratic control of the armed forces implies that the definition... countervailing pressures exist in some instances In Central and Eastern Europe, the predominant position of the Western ‘security community’ (the United States and the countries of Western Europe, embodied in the institutions of the EU and NATO) is by far the single greatest external factor shaping patterns of civilmilitary relations The West’s political, economic and military power, and the desire of many... movement) of which they are part The domestic political function and position of the military – that is to say, their relationship with the institutions and patterns of political power in the society concerned – forms one of the core components of civil military relations Within this context, we argue that ‘democratic control of armed forces should be understood in terms of political control of the military . Edited by Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe Guarding the Guards Democratic Control of the Military in Postcommunist Europe DCMPR. others evaluate the European institutions, in particular the European Union and NATO, in the context of eastern enlargement. Titles include: Andrew Cottey, Timothy Edmunds and Anthony Forster (editors) DEMOCRATIC. relations with the West and their prospects for integration with the European Union (EU) and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO). The extent to and ways in which armed forces maintained