Thousands of defence ministry officials are likely to lose their jobs in the coming years, and compulsory redundancies cannot be ruled out, defence minister Hans Hillen said on Thursday.

The minister was speaking at the opening of a defence industry trade fair in Rotterdam. Neither armed forces or civilian jobs will be immune from the cuts, the minister said.
Next year the ministry has to find savings of €200m, rising to €635m by 2015.
Hillen has already announced a jobs freeze at the ministry. Bureaucracy and support services will also be pruned and investment in new equipment delayed or halted altogether he said.
Military unions think some 7,000 jobs are at stake, including 2,000 armed services personnel.