Period of military service in Transnistrian to be reduced

The period of mandatory military service in the Transnistrian region will be shortened to a year, down from one year and a half. A bill to this effect wad adopted by the region’s administration in the first reading, Info-Prim Neo reports. On its website, “Novyi Reghion” Agency quotes local defense officials as saying that after graduating the school, almost all the boys are of call-up age - 18. Those who were already admitted to universities may be obliged to take academic leave so as to be able to do their military service. The Chisinau public association Promo-LEX repeatedly said that the young men in Transnistria, who are citizens of Moldova, are compelled to swear an oath of allegiance to an anticonstitutional regime. The persons who avoid the draft are put on the wanted list, detained at checkpoints, sentenced to up to two years in jail or fined up to US$600.