On Friday 13 November, the Ministry of National Defence put a draft government decision into public consultation. It would set the rules for Law 446/2006, on preparing the population for defence. The draft is not an adopted decision. The ministry says it can be read on its website and that people may send comments, as the law allows. Agerpres carried the statement, and G4Media reported it.

The announced measure would create a basic military training programme for volunteer soldiers and junior ranks on a fixed term. It would be open to Romanian citizens, women and men, aged 18 to 35, who have not done active military service or service in the reserve. It would last up to four months. The ministry stresses that the programme is strictly voluntary and that it does not bring back compulsory military service. The army remains a professional force, and recruitment stays voluntary.

The statement describes the shape of it: 11 weeks in which participants learn basic military skills, then five weeks of specialist training, with shooting, marches and field exercises. The military oath would be taken at the end of the first month. During the course the ministry promises lodging, food, kit and medical care, plus the financial rights set out in law. At the end, a person may choose a military career, under the law, or be entered in the operational reserve.

The allowance for the whole programme would equal three average gross salaries, set by law, and would be paid in four monthly instalments. For 2026 the ministry puts that at 4,033 lei net a month, plus 217 lei a month for the rank of private or 239 lei for the rank of lance corporal. Digi24 added the two sums: 4,250 lei net for a private and 4,272 lei net for a lance corporal. Those are figures from the draft, not money already paid.

The ministry ties the draft to the defence-planning documents approved by the Supreme Council of National Defence and by Parliament, and to the operational reserve, including Romania’s duties in NATO’s collective defence. The ministry’s recruitment page already describes the programme: enrolment would follow selection and a signed commitment; a candidate would need Romanian citizenship and a stable home in the country for at least six months, a certificate of being clinically healthy, a psychological pass, and must not have turned 35 when training starts. Training would take place in units in Bistrița-Năsăud, Botoșani, Bucharest, Constanța, Craiova, Deveselu, Focșani, Galați, Mangalia, Pitești, Râșnov, Sfântu Gheorghe, Târgu-Cărbunești and Vlădeni, near Brașov. The page is up while the rules are still in consultation.

The photograph shows Victoria Palace, the seat of the government, on 1 December 2015, not a training centre and not the programme’s recruits. Image: Britchi Mirela, CC BY-SA 4.0, Wikimedia Commons.

Source consulted: Proiect al Ministerului Apărării: Program de pregătire militară voluntară pentru românii între 18 și 35 de ani care nu au îndeplinit serviciul militar, G4Media.