Minister Miruță claims “misinformation” on the topic of a “wave of retirements” in the Army: 75% of employees who could have retired today decided not to

The Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, stated on Monday that 75% of the approximately 3,700 employees who could have retired at this moment decided not to retire, without receiving any additional incentive.

The minister thus warned about some “scenarios” and “untrue fears” launched in the public space regarding retirements from the Army. “Obviously we are concerned, not forcing, but arranging the pieces inside these ministries, so that those who decide not to retire are stimulated to do so,” said Miruță.

Radu Miruță made these clarifications on Monday at the Government, being asked about the increase in the retirement age in MAi and MApN and the information appearing in the public space according to which approximately 25,000 employees would like to retire in order to benefit from the conditions of the current law.

The statements of the Minister of Defense

“From the MApN documents, today of the 3,700 employees who could have retired, 75% even if they reached the retirement age decided not to retire. Obviously, we are concerned, not by forcing, but to arrange the pieces inside these ministries, so that those who decide not to retire are stimulated to do so. Not by force, but only if they consider, telling you that today 75%, without any incentive, they decided to remain employed”, stated the Minister of Defense, Radu Miruță, in the conference where he presented what Romania will spend 16.6 billion euros from the SAFE program on.

For his part, the state secretary within the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Bogdan Despescu, stated that there are 15,000 employees at the MAI who meet the retirement conditions.

“At the level of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, there are somewhere around 15,000 colleagues, employees who meet the conditions. They start from the principle that those who meet the conditions today should not be affected. This is where we start, we are in continuous dialogue with the representatives of the trade union organizations. We discussed in a first meeting with them, there will certainly be other discussions in the next period and from our point of view it is a wish that those with more experience remain in the system”, declared Bogdan Despescu.

“These fears that are being introduced are untrue”

Asked when the draft law on raising the retirement age among the military will be finalized, Radu Miruță warned against misinformation.

“There are all kinds of scenarios that are being made, but I think that these fears that are introduced are untrue and let me tell you why. As long as without any incentive people decided to continue working, as long as those who are already retired noticed that since 2017 successive Romanian governments have decoupled the pension increase, the pension update from the increase in the balance, people understood that the moment is the most advantageous to go towards retirement if you don't obliging someone is that moment when you will have ended up earning a larger amount of money,” he said.

“There is no plan to cut either pension or salary”

The minister added that “the concern is that the changes to be made, if they are to be made, will give a benefit to those about to retire and not a disadvantage”.

“In a country that has 649.5 kilometers of border with a country that is at war, it is counterintuitive to cut pensions and salaries in the military area or in the Ministry of Internal Affairs area. No, there is no plan to cut either pension or salary, nor to change the criteria according to which one retires today in terms of calculating the pension,” said Miruță.

According to him, there is a certain concern in the public space that 'what concerns the military area, the area of ​​the force entities, be drawn into a scare, into misinformation, because those who do not want the good of Romania take advantage of these things'.

The Ministry of Defense will have two parallel expenditures

The Minister pointed out the expenses that the Minister of Defense will have with retirees and the need for financial stimulation for those who want to remain active.

“The Ministry of Defense not only pays salaries, but also pensions. If today there are 3,700 people who meet the conditions to retire, if they retire, the Ministry of Defense will pay for those people and the expenses associated with the pension and will also pay expenses associated with the salaries of those who will be employed instead of those who retire, so that there is no question of reducing the number of soldiers. So the Ministry of Defense will have two parallel expenses: one with the pensions of those who are retiring, one with the salaries of those who will take the place of those who are retiring. If we manage to financially stimulate people to decide that it is more advantageous to stay in the activity, this will save a corridor between the two, because we will not pay the pensions and salaries of those who come in their place”, said Miruță.

According to him, “depending on how much the budget will allow to do this stimulation, we will see how many people will decide not to retire even if they meet the conditions”.

“We cannot say that we are taking money from Health and Education. We are saying that the Ministry of Defense is extremely important, it is critical to equip the military with the latest technology and pay these people well,” the government official added.

Asked if there is budget space for these incentives, the Minister of Defense stated that simulations are still being done.

“We will have a political decision on the variant obtained according to the results of those simulations. The concern is to stimulate, not to take,” said Miruță.