Conscripts will not have to serve more than nine months in the army, according to plans unveiled yesterday by Defense Minister Evangelos Meimarakis.

Speaking on NET TV, Meimarakis said that he would be recommending to the The Government Council for Foreign Affairs and Defense (KYSEA) that the military service all Greeks are required to do be reduced to nine months. At present, basic military service in the army is 12 months, down from 18 months earlier this decade.

Under Meimarakis’s plans, those who are called up in August will need to serve just nine months, those that were drafted in January will spend 11 months in the army and those who joined in May will leave after 10 months.

He added that electronic surveillance would be introduced at army camps to bring an end to most guard duties. PASOK dismissed the measures as an attempt to win support after the European election results.