Naskovski accuses of blackmail and pressure on professional soldiers

Naskovski, a representative of the Independent Union of Professional Soldiers, said the union's members have been subjected to blackmail and pressure as they press for a long-standing package of demands.

Union outlines pay and status demands

According to Naskovski, the demands include a sizeable salary adjustment and a new collective agreement to regularise employment conditions. He listed the union's core positions and framed them as overdue compensations for years of service. Naskovski said:

"Professional soldiers are the pillar of security, finally and deserved to be satisfied even after 45 years. Payment of two average salaries. And as a civilian person to remain in the army new collective agreement and increase of salaries. The next budget will be increased. I will cooperate with every union."

He also urged that personnel who serve in the units responsible for property and personal security at barracks receive the same rights as other members of the army. In his words: "To transform their status in these units for securing property and persons at the barracks the same rights as the other members of the army."

The union leader framed the demands as both a material correction — notably an entitlement to two average monthly salaries and higher pay overall — and a structural change in how security units are classified and compensated.

So far, there has been no publicly announced agreement. The union says it will continue to press for negotiations and called on authorities to address both the alleged pressures on members and the substantive claims over pay and employment status.

Photo: press material from the event