Minister of National Defence, Mr. Gabriel Oprea, participated in the meeting of the Commission for Work, Family and Social Protection of the Senate, on Tuesday, February 9, for debating the additional Report in common with the Commission for Defence, Public Order and National Security of the draft to modify and complete the Law no. 384/2006 on the status of volunteer soldiers and NCOs.
After debating and analyzing the suggestions, they considered as necessary to introduce and modify some articles of the law, in order to eliminate the existing ambiguities, to establish the military status and obligations at professional level for the volunteer soldiers and NCOs, according to the rights they should benefit of. Nowadays, the volunteer soldiers and NCOs although they are fulfilling specific missions, in peace time or in war time, or participating in peacekeeping missions in theaters of operations, they can not be assimilated as militaries, so not benefiting of some rights, being a distinct body of military personnel with its own status.
'The suggestions we discussed and approved today, in consensus, will be a social repair. These are the measures taken to correct the situation which the professional soldiers are confronting with. It is correct that this category of soldiers, the most numerous within the armed forces, fulfilling the military tasks for many years, to benefit of the legal stipulations on the length of military service, pensions, compensations in case of accidents during the professional training or in missions in theaters of operations. It was necessary to do that for the people to benefit of pensions and other rights as the military staff. Thus, the justice will be done and I am glad that we all have contributed to this decision, with no political involvement. And I am referring to deputies George Scutaru, Eugen Bejinariu, Marin Sarbu, senator Cristian Radulescu, Prime Minister Emil Boc - they all agreed to support these decisions' stated Minister Gabriel Oprea.
According to the rules the common Report suggested, people can be recruited and hired with the age between 18 and 45, and complying with the norms and criteria the ministries and services stipulated, to accomplish the military service as volunteer soldiers and NCOs. Their selection, training, military specialties and positions of hire and the record way of doing this should be established by the adequate ministries and services. The
length of service, as volunteer NCO, is considered as length of military service and is taken into calculation of pension, according to Law no. 164/2001 on state military pensions.
The volunteer soldiers and NCOs are benefiting of enlisting in special, different conditions, and other conditions of activity they are doing or their place of work, according to the legislation fit to the military staff on duty. The time the volunteer soldiers and NCOs are participating in missions in theaters of operations should be considered as the double in calculating the length of military service. The stage of paying their dues to the public system of pensions between December 24, 2006 and the date this Law will be in force should be considered the length in service and should be taken into account to establishing the pension, according to Law no. 164/2001, on state military pensions.
The soldiers and NCOs in reserve or not kept in military record anymore, based on article 45, align(1), letters a)-e),g)h) and m) will benefit of social protection and professional reconversion according to the legislation in force for the military staff. The common Report stipulates for the soldiers and NCOs in reserve or kept no more in military record based on art.45 align (1), letters c) and d) will benefit of free medical assistance and drugs according to art. 26, Law no. 80/1995 on the military staff’s status. Those who are inscribed in a degree of invalidity, according to the legal stipulations will benefit of pensions of invalidity according to Law no 164/2001 on state military pensions. The volunteer soldiers or NCOs or their descendants, according to the case, will benefit of compensations in case of invalidity or death as result of military actions, accidents, catastrophes or other events that would happen in time or because the military service or missions within the international peacekeeping or humanitarian forces, as stipulated by the laws in force for military staff on duty. The compensations should be granted from the budget of the Ministry of National Defence.
'I especially was in favor of increasing the maximum age of enlisting the volunteer soldiers and NCOs from 40 to 45 and granting similar rights - pensions in military system and possible professional reconversion. According to the legislative draft, from the age of 40 to 60 these persons have the right of professional reconversion as the other military staff. The Ministry of National Defence takes into account other legislative drafts for these young military persons, too' stated the National Defence Minister at the end of the meeting.

MoND Press Office