CHISINAU. Nov 7 (Interfax-AVN) - Moldovan Defense Minister Vitalie Vrabie and UK Minister of State for the Armed Forces Bob Ainsworth signed a bilateral military cooperation plan for the 2009 financial year in London on Thursday, a Moldovan Defense Ministry spokesman told Interfax.
Under the program, UK specialists will advise the Moldovan authorities on a strategic defense inventory, military training and other matters. The document also envisions experience sharing events, assistance in Moldova's national defense system reform and language courses for Moldovan army servicemen.
Twenty-three Moldovan servicemen are currently attending English language courses in the University College of Ripon and York and the Military Language School in Beaconsfield using scholarships granted by the UK Defense Ministry.
UK Minister Ainsworth noted the results achieved by the Moldovan National Army during the first two stages of the strategic defense inventory program and confirmed UK specialists' readiness to continue offering their consultative services.
The two countries' Defense Ministries have already signed three agreements on bilateral cooperation, which include measures to further promote ties in job retraining programs for servicemen dismissed from the Moldovan army, to exchange geography-related materials and to expand cooperation in defense issues.