The Minister of Defense spoke in a last-minute statement about the Romanian Army, and sent a series of very important messages for millions of people throughout the country, discussing the way the institution is perceived in the eyes of the Romanians at the moment.
The Minister of Defense also says that in the fall a new communication campaign regarding the Romanian Army will be initiated in order to present the military profession from all its points, all so that people can better understand what it means to be a professional soldier.
"Unfortunately, we have some positive stereotypes about the army, but also some negative stereotypes about the army. There are positive stereotypes in those of my generation, for example, or of those who did military training before 1989, and who understood that being with others, regardless of conditions in the army, was a leap for their personality, or it was a period of socialization in which they became truly social beings.
They have become truly social beings, they have learned solidarity, what is with difficulties, what does discipline mean in the end, what does it mean to get out from under the protection of the family, to enter society, to fulfill roles, to have a different status, to fight for the state in the army and in society. There are those who have learned this and know about it, but the majority, because since 2007 there was no longer mandatory military training, surely the image of the army has been distorted.
The friends' stories remained, the parents' stories, perhaps, and surely the wars that were not predictable have now come. Probably during this whole period it was diluted a bit, the army probably remained a kind of symbolic element of trust.
People trust the Army symbolically because it fought throughout history, because we have bright figures of people who made the army, because the officer is an important, symbolic character in society, as a sign of national dignity, as a sign of patriotism, but we didn't have many concrete incarnations.
These days we talked a lot with our public relations and communication department, and this fall we will have a much more complex communication campaign, presenting the military profession through all its points. It will be a much more flexible presentation, we also have scout camps now, and in the summer, with extraordinary success."
