The Ungheni Territorial Military Centre has announced that, from 22 June, it is running the third stage of conscription into compulsory military service in the National Army. It is the last of the three stages of the spring–summer campaign — after those that began on 27 April and 25 May — and part of the national April–July campaign, in which the Government approved calling up up to 1,200 young men (plus up to 10 into reduced-term service).
For a young man from the district and his family, the notice raises very concrete questions. Here are the markers.
Who is called up and what follows
Under Law No. 1245/2002, men who have turned 18 are conscripted, the age limit being 27; those not conscripted by then pass into the reserve. Young men are placed on military records as early as 16. Before conscription, each undergoes a compulsory medical examination before the military medical board, which decides whether the recruit is fit. Service lasts 12 months; conscription is followed by a basic training course, and the military oath is taken after six weeks.
The lesser-known rights: deferral and civilian service
This is where what many recruits do not know lies. The law provides for deferrals — to continue studies (lower secondary school, high school, vocational school, college, university), for health or family reasons (for example, dependants) — and exemptions, including for those found unfit.
There is also a little-used path: alternative civilian service (Law No. 156/2007), for those who, on religious, pacifist, ethical or moral grounds, cannot perform military service. It lasts 12 months (6 for those with higher education) and is carried out in social and medical care, communal services, construction, or with fire and rescue services. Mind the deadline: the application is filed in person, at least two months before conscription. At the other end, evading military service is punishable, under Article 353 of the Criminal Code, by a fine or unpaid community work.
From an ever-smaller pool of young men
Beyond the procedure, the notice reads against a backdrop that gives pause. National Bureau of Statistics data show that the generation from which recruits are drawn has thinned dramatically in the Ungheni district. The number of men aged 20–24 — the core conscription age — fell from about 4,154 in 2014 to about 1,507 in 2025: a collapse of almost two thirds (64%). The 25–29 group fell even more, by 69%, and the 15–19 group by 26%. (The figures are for the population with usual residence, and those for 2025 are preliminary.)
In other words, the same yearly call-up addresses a pool of young men that, in ten years, has halved — the combined effect of migration and falling birth rates, visible here in its most administrative form.
A separate project, still on paper
A clarification, so as not to mix things up: there is also public discussion of a Ministry of Defence project for basic military training for more citizens, including those over 27, and “patriotic education” in high schools. That is, for now, a proposal under debate — it has nothing to do with the current conscription and does not change the rules of the third stage described above.
Where to ask for details
The exact schedule of the stage, the list of documents and the board’s timetable are with the Ungheni Territorial Military Centre (15 Vasile Lupu St., tel. 0236 22 323, cmt.ungheni@army.md), headed by Colonel Pavel Vartic. How many young men from the Ungheni district are called up at this stage is not a published figure — the government decision sets only the national ceiling, and the breakdown by district does not appear in the sources consulted.
The announcement of the third stage and the contacts come from the Ungheni Territorial Military Centre; the national ceiling and the training procedure from the Government’s communications (relayed by the state agency Moldpres) and the National Army. The ages, length of service, deferrals, exemptions and civilian service are from Law No. 1245/2002 and Law No. 156/2007. The demographic data are the National Bureau of Statistics’ (population with usual residence; 2025 preliminary). The number of recruits from the district and the mandatory-training project — the first unpublished, the second still at proposal stage — do not change the above.