Moldova proposes uniting armed forces with breakaway Transdnestr 14:40
| 10/ 10/ 2007 CHISINAU, October 10 (RIA Novosti) - Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin said on Wednesday that Moldova and the breakaway Transdnestr republic should form a united military force. The president said military units should be recruited on a territorial basis, with soldiers serving in neighboring regions. "The most important thing here is that they [the united armed forces] would not be used for law enforcement and public security," Voronin said in an interview with a national newspaper. Voronin also commented that, "two absolutely useless armies" exist on the territory of Moldova, and that there was no likelihood of them ever taking up arms against each other. He also added that "We are never going to return to the nightmare of 1992," a reference to the armed conflict sparked off by the declaration of independence by the largely ethnic Russian Transdnestr region following the break up of the Soviet Union in 1991. The president also admitted that it would not be easy to make large-scale military cuts, as thousands of people would subsequently lose their jobs. In addition to this, he noted that the army is a very important social institution in the former soviet republic, providing education and work experience for the bulk of the country's young people, especially those from rural areas. In place of military units, the reform should introduce obligatory educational centers where officers teach military skills to young people. After this "military service," those who wished to do so would be offered the chance to undertake further specialist training. In the president's opinion this would allow the country to cut military expenses, and to redirect money to more urgent tasks. He added that the country's army, despite multiple reforms, is presently more like a formal attribute, like its national currency, emblem or anthem, than a real fighting force. "Of course, we could increase its combat-readiness and fighting strength and provide it with the most up-to-date weapons, but what for?" Voronin said. "It is evident that Moldova is not going to wage a war against any country, and we don't see any state in this part of Europe posing any military threat." He also reiterated that "Moldova is a neutral state. It does not and will not enter any military alliances." "For the ruling party, the country's neutrality, declared in our Constitution, is not an issue to be discussed," Voronin added. "This is one of our political principles, the cornerstone of our approach to national security." <http://en.rian.ru/world/20071010/83295280.html <http://en.rian.ru/world/20071010/83295280.html> > [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: [email protected] Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> Your email settings: Individual Email | Traditional <*> To change settings online go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/join (Yahoo! ID required) <*> To change settings via email: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
