Luthori

[Ligbruderkrieg]

Defence Secretary Thomas Grant met today with military high-ranking officers at the Citadel for his first meeting with the Defence Staff amid rumours of an important cut in the military budget, with the government looking towards a reduced focus over the military for the remainder of its term, after speculations that the Prime Minister’s campaign promises would remain just that - campaign promises, and that no significant action against the military would be undertaken. During this meeting, where he was accompanied by Minister for Territorial Defence Nathan Keel and Minister for Maritime Defence Rachel Oliver, the Defence Secretary aimed at reassuring military leaders about the government’s goal with the military during the next years, with the concerned stating that while the military isn’t the primary focus of the current governing coalition, Luthorian sovereignty and global security would remain primary focus for the government.

Meeting Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Keith Sanders, in their fourth official long meeting ever since the appointment of Mr. Grant, as Secretary of State of Defence, was aiming at “resuming” dialogue between military authorities and civilian representatives about the future of the military. Gen. Sanders, as a veteran of the Kundrati Campaign, spoke regularly of the “necessity” of “learning from our mistakes” in the last significant war that Luthori fought and “upgrade” both Luthorian military infrastructure and military strategies into the current century, something that he argued, can only be done in an environment where the Luthorian government places more funds into the military to help with her transition process. When asked about potential cuts to the allocated budget, the Citadel refused to comment, stating that the “Imperial Luthorian Armed Forces shouldn’t and are not authorised, per the law and conventions of the Realm, to comment on ongoing political events”, but privately, top military leaders expressed “solemn disappointment” at the rumours, with the Chief of the General Staff, Maj. Gen. Peter Haig, expressing worries to the Prime Minister during a rare direct phone call between Crown Street and the Citadel, with him describing the rumoured move as being “reckless” and “dangerous”.

With Foreign Secretary Coverty’s policy agenda being more focused on ideals than his predecessors, in a sharp contrast and clash of ideals with the previous administration, it seems that such an agenda can be brought to the Government’s relation with its military staff, with the beginning being a rethinking of the budget granted to the military, even as the world engages in a tension-filled era. While the Defence Secretary is a pragmatic Labour member, a member of the Pink Labour faction and a veteran of the Second Kundrati War, he is nonetheless a supporter of a “new vision” for the military, focused around reducing personnel and a greater emphasis of material and technological capabilities rather than strictly human capabilities, as was the case during the War, with Luthori mobilizing 1.5 million soldiers, with a sizeable amount, around 600.000 soldiers according to estimates from the Defence Office not taking part in the War itself. 

The aim of the meeting was to reassure military leaders about the government’s aim and the policies that can be enacted by collaboration between the armed forces and the left-wing government, especially on the matters of logistics and industrial production, matters that the government aims to tackle during this term, with investments upon renewed infrastructure works and upon fledgling and select industrial sectors, and while the defence industry wasn’t necessarily supposed to be receiving much attention or finance, this meeting could see increased funding towards the defence industry being acted upon as compensation from the cut in funding. Chancellor Rosenbach himself expressed willingness at “revising” his investment plan to “include” new “strategic” industries.

Defence Secretary Grant and Chief of the Defence Staff Sanders agreed to discuss future plans to push the military towards their agreed agreement, signaling new changes coming forward for the Luthorian Armed Forces.