Moldova celebrates National Army Day

Moldova's National Army celebrates 17 years on September 3. At a news conference, Defense Minister Vitalie Vrabie has stated that Moldova needs a strong army and that the everyday efforts make the National Army a modern army. According to him, this progress has to be continuous in order to strengthen the people's confidence and respect for the army. “The institution of the military represents a pillar ensuring stability and balance in the society, making during all these years a decisive contribution to the international image of the country, in all those places where the Moldovan military men carry out complex and highly responsible missions in a highly professional manner”, stated Minister Vrabie. The leadership of the National Army has vowed to modernize this institution, which demonstrated “that it can be close to the people” by lending a helping hand after this summer's floods. The army plans to increase to 533 the number of servicemen due to receive free housing by 2010, as 180 servicemen have already moved in. According to Deputy Defense Minister Igor Malai, in the period May-June 2008 Moldova's armed forces enrolled 2,917 persons (96.91 percent of the target), of whom 1,370 recruits in the National Army. More than 13,000 recruits have been temporarily excused from service.