 The Romanian Parliament voted to abolish conscription in October 2005, with the vote formalizing one of many military modernization and reform programs that Romania agreed to when it joined NATO.The Russian Empire allowed Russian Mennonites to run and maintain forestry service units in South Russia in lieu of their military obligation.The program was under church control from 1881 through 1918, reaching a peak of seven thousand conscientious objectors during World War I.