The Romanian Senate, as the decision-maker of the Parliament, adopted the draft of law that would amend Law 384/2006 on Enlisted soldiers and NCOs, on Monday, February 22. The National Defence Minister, Mr. Gabriel Oprea, endorsed the draft in the Senate's plenary meeting.
The National Defence Minister underlined the necessity of improving the legal frame regulating the status of Enlisted soldiers and NCOs.
'The Romanian Armed Forces is a professional structure and an elite corps, as so often proven, which is why it should be granted rights accordingly. We have to take such steps as to grant military personnel more rights and we have the support of the President, of the Prime Minister and the Labour and Defence Committees in the Deputy Chamber and the Senate. The state should not abandon military personnel at the age of 40 but, on the contrary, they should be given more opportunities at the end of their active duty career. We are talking here of people that are representative for the institution, people who have participated in missions at home or abroad and who helped making the Romanian Armed Forces the nation's ambassador in the world, due to their courage, privation, suffering and ever so often, the supreme sacrifice. Many of them risk their lives, shed blood and become heroes, leaving behind children and disconsolate families.
It is our duty as well as the Parliament's, to see that they are not discriminated, to take good care of our soldiers and their families, to give these young people back their rights and the role they deserve. The proposed measures are meant to convince young people to embrace a military career due to the opportunities it represents and not as a solution of the last resort. Each and every young man should be proud to be part of the Romanian Armed Forces, an elite body of professionals, acknowledged across the world' the National Defence Minister said in the plenary meeting of the Senate.
By amending some provisions or abrogating some articles, this draft law is meant to improve the statute of this part of the military personnel as follows:

Enlisted soldiers and NCOs will stay in system until the age of 45 as compared to 40 as stipulated at present by the law;

The Enlisted soldier or NCOs' service time should be assimilated to military service and therefore taken into account when establishing the pension;

Enlisted soldiers and NCOs should benefit of special employment conditions, according to the legislation for active duty military personnel;

Reserve Enlisted soldiers and NCOs or taken out of military records could be entitled to free medical assistance and medication as provided by the statute of military personnel. Moreover, invalids, of different degrees invalidity, should have an invalidity pension, according to Law no.164/2001 on military pensions;
The time enlisted soldiers and NCOs spent in missions abroad should be doubled in calculating the length of military service;

The financial contributions to the public system of pensions realized from December 24, 2006 to the time the Law will come into effect should be taken into account in establishing pensions;

The sanction consisting in a 5%-20% cut in payment, for one to three months will be replaced with the disciplinary sanction of rank lowering;

The law was also amended as to grant furlough or child allowance as provided by existing law, with no order issued by the minister of national defence;

Enlisted soldiers and NCOs can only take part in the forms of training improvement. The law was amended as to allow them to attend any form in the civilian higher education system;

The enlisted soldiers and NCOs could be transferred upon request to another military unit not only in the interest of service, as the situation is now.

Mister Gabriel Oprea highlighted the concern the MoND to ensure and enforce the rights of the Romanian military personnel, even during the hard times Romania is facing and said there are more draft laws coming that have in view young military personnel.
'Despite the economic crisis and limited defence resources, we will not give up. There are many things that can be done right even with less money or that do not involve money at all. The Senate and the Deputy Chamber are willing to endorse our actions. Everybody understands that military personnel have to have their rights granted by law. There are no party interests when we talk of the fate of the Romanian Armed Forces. There is only one prevailing interest and that is the national interest. I want to send an encouraging message to all Romanian forces here at home or in the theaters of operations telling them they have my entire support as I am very much aware of what a military career means and the sacrifices it involves' Mister Gabriel Oprea said.
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This military category – volunteer soldiers and NCOs – was established in 1990 by the Decision of the Government no. 1030 from September 18. Initially they were called the militaries hired based on a contract (m.a.c.) and were enlisted on some military ranks in terms – this stage was part of the process of transformation into an army of professionals and implicitly the renouncing to the compulsory military service. Practically, on a number of positions for compulsory militaries they enlisted the professionals. They (the m.a.c.) had almost the same regime as the militaries but benefiting no rights as the others had.
The Decision of the Government no. 1030/1990 was limiting the age, up to 35 years, for the combat warriors and 45 years for the militaries hired on other positions.
In 2006, they issued the Law no. 384 on the Statute of volunteer soldiers and NCOs setting their statute within the Romanian Armed Forces and they received some additional rights. The age they could be kept in activity was limited to 40 years.
Nowadays, the volunteer soldiers and NCOs are about 31,000 in number, representing about 40% from the total of the military personnel.
The most volunteer soldiers and NCOs are enlisted within the Land Forces – about 65%. Within the maneuver battalions for the theaters of operations this is the most numbering category of personnel.
Although they are achieving specific missions in peace time and in war time, although they are participating in missions in theaters of operations, according the legislation in force, the volunteer soldiers and NCOs were not assimilated to the militaries and as consequence they could not benefit some rights granted to those, being a distinct body of military personnel with its own statute.

MoND Press Office