The commander of the Land Forces and the commander of the Balti Brigade No. 1 were discharged from posts, while 18 servicemen from all the administrative echelons were reprimanded following last week’s incident when a soldier was fatally wounded from a gun by a mate. Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta was warned. The penalties were imposed by the Supreme Security Council on July 16, IPN reports.

After the meeting, Vitalie Marinuta told the press that he was ready to tender his resignation and informed President Nicole Timofti and Prime Minister Iurie Leanca about this on July 13. “I never said that everything is perfect in the National Army. We encounter such problems as the quality of drafting and of the military service, the provision with dwellings and they do not contribute to a very high quality of service. The administrative researches conducted revealed violations of the statutory guarding rules,” said the minister.

He also said that the dismissals do not solve the problem. The National Army budget, which is now 256 million lei, should be doubled.

During Vitalie Marinuta’s term of office, eight soldiers died while doing their military service.

Nicolae Timofti told the journalists that he warned the minister of defense and the General Staff head about the created situation. The Supreme Security Council will hold a new meeting in September to discuss the situation and the reformation of the National Army.

On July 12, a soldier of the Balti Motorized Infantry Brigade No. 1 “Moldova” was shot accidentally by a mate. According to the preliminary enquiry, the incident happened because the security norms during guard shift change were violated.