National Army Presents 2013 Activity Report

Chisinau, December 19, 2013 — The National Army and the Ministry’s of Defense institutions, fulfilled the current established missions and the partnership engagements assumed within IPAP and PARP despite the defense institution’s current austere budget, Minister of Defense, Vitalie Marinuta, stated at the meeting of the Ministry’s of Defense Military Council.

Vitalie Marinuta said that Republic of Moldova Parliamentary decision on the deployment of the military contingent to KFOR mission, is one of the best achievements of the year 2013. This gives our country the opportunity to become a security provider and a reliable partner in maintaining international peace and security. “We hope that the Moldovan Legislation will approve in the next year the Military Code and the National Military Strategy, vital documents for the the defense institution’s reform”, the Minister of Defense noted.

The Chief of Main Staff, National Army Commander, Col. Igor Gorgan, stated that except the training of staff for missions, the National Army recorded great achievements in term of obsolete ammunition disposal.

The National Army EOD engineers destroyed a total of 1213 explosive devices of different caliber as part of the obsolete ammunition disposal project. At the same time, the EOD engineers carried out 168 demining missions, and destroyed 1791 explosive devices throughout the country.

Col. Gorgan specified that the National Army had contributed to disposal of pesticides in Republic of Moldova. This year, with the support of NATO member countries and partners, the Agreement on the disposal of dangerous pesticides and chemicals from our country, estimated at about 2,2 millions euros, was signed, A military operational group started preparing from Taraclia, Basarabeasca, Ialoveni and Anenii Noi for evacuation and export to Poland. Until May 2014, about 1270 tons of pesticides will be evacuated and destrozed .

In 2013, the National Army deployed 366 servicemembers to multinational exercises. Eleven other officers participate in UN-led missions in Cote d’Ivoire, Liberia, South Sudan, Kosovo and the Department of Peacekeeping Operations from New York. Also, the flying and technical personnel of the Air Forces are still engaged in UNAMA (United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan) mission.

At the end of the Military Council meeting, National Army’s missions for the year of 2014 have been approved, including the development of peacekeeping capabilities and the enhancement of training of process staff officers and military observers for carrying out missions as part of multinational forces and rotation of National Army contingent within KFOR.

At the same time, the focus will be put on the professional development of the National Army staff and the ongoing evaluation process of the National Army’s units, in compliance with the Operational Capabilities Concept ( OCC).

During the Military Council, three reports on defense issues, were presented, including summing-up 2013 report of the National Army, 2013 defense policies implementation and the 2014 defense policy planning activity, as well as the evaluation of the procurement system and measures of improvement.