EditRomania’s defence laws stuck in limbo as army faces deepening personnel crisis
For more than three years, key legislation has languished in bureaucratic drawers, despite the war raging in neighbouring Ukraine
For over three years, Romania has watched the war in Ukraine with the fascination of someone observing, in slow motion, a disaster speeding toward them like a derailed train. During this time, Romania’s army has been fighting a costly war with itself, EUalive partner PressOne writes.
The personnel crisis is now compounded by the looming threat of military pension reform, which could destabilise the entire defence system. Defence Minister Ionuț Moșteanu has already warned that “there are several thousand people (in the military and other security structures) who could leave the system tomorrow and cause major imbalances”.
These “several thousand” soldiers are effectively working with their retirement papers in their pockets: if there is even the slightest sign that their pensions will be reduced, many will choose to leave, Moșteanu cautioned.
Thousands are in this “retirement window”, including senior officers – colonels or generals, or at least people with extensive field experience. This raises the question: how much can the army rely on the combat effectiveness of personnel who, despite their experience, are eagerly waiting to leave the system?
The truth is, the Romanian army has faced a major human resources imbalance for at least a decade. In 2015, Romania reluctantly adopted the voluntary reservist law, allowing “civilians” to join the army on a voluntary basis by signing a contract with the Defence Ministry. It was a complete failure: in ten years, the army attracted just 4,700 such “volunteers.” For comparison, Russia supplies its front in Ukraine with 9,000 new recruits each month.
Equipment without soldiers
Since the summer of 2022 – the year Russia invaded Ukraine, the Defence Ministry has had in its drawers a draft law allowing young people to “do military service” on a voluntary basis: a four-month training programme after which recruits would be considered as reservists and they could be mobilised in case of war.
For three years, the draft law has circulated between ministries “for approval”, only to be sent back to Defence. After more than three years, the bill has not even reached Parliament. Another law, governing the functioning of the Defence Ministry, has been stuck since 2022.
In 2024, the ministry drafted a new national defence law to replace the current one, dating back to the 1990s. Among other things, it sets out procedures to counter new “hybrid threats”.
Then bureaucracy took over: with the appointment of the new Ciolacu 2 government (after the December 2024 elections), the approval process restarted from scratch, as all documents had to be signed again by the new ministers involved in the inter-ministerial review.
“All European countries have changed in recent years their policy of preparing the population for defence. We now have, for the third time in the inter-ministerial circuit – because governments kept changing, two important bills: amendments to the national defence law and changes to the law on preparing the population for defence. We will create a framework for another form of military volunteering: fixed-term volunteers. There will be four-month training sessions, followed by a new reserve for the Romanian army, because the current reservists are ageing. Meanwhile, we are equipping and preparing”, Moșteanu recently stated.
A “voluntary” army with over €6,000 in incentives
Under the new voluntary service bill, Romanian citizens, men and women aged 18-35 who have not previously served, will be able to apply for a four-month training programme.
“During the basic military training programme, fixed-term volunteer soldiers will receive free accommodation, clothing and food allowances, medical care and medicines, as well as a monthly allowance similar to conscript soldiers of the rank of private,” the Defence Ministry’s draft says.
Specifically, recruits would receive a monthly pay of around 3,000 lei (€593). At the end of the programme, they would also receive a financial bonus of about 27,000 lei (€5,333), equivalent to three average gross salaries.
“Citizens who complete the basic military training programme will receive an allowance representing three average gross salaries used to calculate the state social insurance budget for the year in which payment is made,” the draft reads.
In addition, volunteer recruits who are already employed will not lose their jobs during the four-month training, as employers will be required to temporarily suspend their contracts.
At the end of the programme, recruits can opt to join the army as professional soldiers. Those who decline will be automatically placed in the operational reserve. The four-month voluntary service can only be completed once.
So far, the only legislative changes in defence successfully adopted and enacted are the law allowing the army to shoot down drones entering or flying over Romanian airspace without authorisation, and the law governing NATO missions and operations on Romanian territory – both already published in the Official Gazette.
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Read the full article in Romanian here.
Caption: Romanian Military Academy cadet Rares (R) smiles to his girlfriend Alina (L) after a Romanian Army Day celebration event held in front of the Unknown Soldier Memorial, in Bucharest, Romania, 25 October 2024. The Armed Forces Day in Romania is marked to commemorate 80 years after retaking of Carei, the last Romanian city under joint German – Hungarian occupation on 25 October 1944. Romania became a full member of NATO on 02 April 2004. EPA/ROBERT GHEMENT
Updated: August 13, 2025 - 13:18
