Romania: End of conscription

Romania is the latest country which finally ended conscription. The transformation into fully professionalised forces in order to comply with NATO standards had been planned for some time. Since the 1990s, the size of the Romanian armed forces and the number of conscripts had been reduced significantly. In 2003 the Constitution was in fact amended in order to allow for the abolition of conscription. This was finally decided in 2005, and on 23 October 2006 the Romanian military was finally transformed into a “fully professional force”.

Sources: Romania follows suit - conscription to be abolished on 1 January 2007, CO-Update No 15, November 2005, Romania Ends Conscription, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 23 October 2006