LUCINSCHI OUTLINES MILITARY REFORM PLAN.

In a broadcast to the countryyesterday, Moldovan President Petru Lucinschi outlined the concept of a”radical” military reform and urged its speedy adoption. The reform’s maingoals are to reduce military manpower and to modernize the equipment ofremaining troops. According to Lucinschi, the country will need to have itsown army as long as Transdniester retains its own forces and Russian troopsand ammunition stores remain there. Moldova finds itself, the presidentobserved, at a “strategic crossroads where various countries’ interestsintersect.”

Lucinschi also described the national army as a state-building andsocialization instrument that Moldova fails to use. He decried pervasivedraft-dodging, which is made possible by lax legislation; urged thereintroduction of pre-draft military training in schools; and called for theintroduction of Moldovan patriotic education for conscripts. (Flux, Infotag,June 8)

ABKHAZIA FEELS ENCOURAGED TO UP THE ANTE IN MOSCOW TALKS.