Moldova Military - 2022

GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES 

Military and security forces

National Army: Land Forces (Fortele Terestre ale Republicii Moldova, FTRM); Air Forces (Forţele Aeriene ale Republicii Moldova, FARM); Ministry of Internal Affairs: Carabinieri Troops (2022)

note: the Carabinieri is a quasi-militarized gendarmerie responsible for protecting public buildings, maintaining public order, and other national security functions

Military expenditures

0.4% of GDP (2021 est.)

0.4% of GDP (2020 est.)

0.4% of GDP (2019 est.) (approximately $160 million)

0.4% of GDP (2018 est.) (approximately $130 million)

0.4% of GDP (2017 est.) (approximately $120 million)

Military and security service personnel strengths

approximately 6,500 active troops (2022)

Military equipment inventories and acquisitions

the Moldovan military's inventory is limited and almost entirely comprised of older Russian and Soviet-era equipment; since 2000, it has received small amounts of donated material from other nations, including the US (2021)

Military service age and obligation

18-27 years of age for compulsory or voluntary military service; male registration required at age 16; 12-month service obligation (2022)

note: as of 2019, women made up about 20% of the military's full-time personnel

Military - note

Moldova is constitutionally neutral, but has maintained a relationship with NATO since 1992; bilateral cooperation started when Moldova joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994; Moldova has contributed small numbers of troops to NATO’s Kosovo Force (KFOR) since 2014, and a civilian NATO liaison office was established in Moldova in 2017 at the request of the Moldovan Government to promote practical cooperation and facilitate support

the 1992 war between Moldovan forces and Transnistrian separatists backed by Russian troops ended with a cease-fire; as of 2022, Russia maintained approximately 1,500 troops in Transnistria, some of which served under the authority of a peacekeeping force known as a Joint Control Commission that also included Moldovan and separatist personnel; the remainder of the Russian contingent (the Operative Group of the Russian Troops or OGRT) guarded a depot of Soviet-era ammunition and trained Transnistrian separatist paramilitary troops (2022)

NOTE: The information regarding Moldova on this page is re-published from the 2022 World Fact Book of the United States Central Intelligence Agency and other sources. No claims are made regarding the accuracy of Moldova 2022 information contained here. All suggestions for corrections of any errors about Moldova 2022 should be addressed to the CIA or the source cited on each page.