Interior Minister Kubice says he expects 1.7 billon crown shortfall

Interior Minister Jan Kubice has said the ministry expects a shortfall of around 1.7 billion crowns in 2012 as a result of government austerity measures. At a press conference in Prague, the minister stressed that although the number was not necessarily definite and would depend on negotiations between within the ruling coalition in March, he did not want any additional cuts to affect police officers or others in the security services. He did suggest that hiring new police officers as sought by police president Petr Lessý (who said he would like to see 1,500 personnel recruited) was not in the cards. Currently there are some 38,900 members of the force in the country but analysis has suggested 40,309 would be ideal

Author: Jan Velinger