The participants in international missions and operations who were awarded the International Missions Cross will benefit from a nominal allowance for special merits before the state. The Cabinet approved a draft law to amend the Law on Veterans and introduce the given allowance, IPN reports.

The international missions and operations annually involve about 100 Moldovans: 16 service members in international missions under the aegis of the UN; 80-82 service members in the KFOR mission (Kosovo), and 1-2 persons in other missions. The Ministry of Defense specified that under the Law on Veterans, the persons who were conferred state awards of the ‘cross’ type get a nominal allowance only when their pension is set in accordance with the legislation.

As of 1997, the international missions and operations involved about 600 Moldovan service members. Of these, 120 left the contract-based military service with the right to get a pension and almost half of these were given different state awards. About 20 service members who took part in international missions and operations withdraw annually and keep the right to have a pension.