European countries that are neutral invest in the field of defense more than the member countries of a military bloc, expert Igor Botan stated in a public debate entitled “How can small countries defend themselves?”. According to the expert, the price of neutrality is very high and with the Russian invasion of Ukraine, countries that feel threatened want to join NATO.
According to expert Igor Boțan, the neutrality of the Republic of Moldova does not imply a total ignorance of national security and defense. The expert brought the example of neutral European states, whose percentage of GDP allocated to the field of defense is higher than the investments in this field of NATO member countries.
“According to the Constitution, adopted in 1994, the Republic of Moldova is a neutral state. The status of neutrality was strengthened by the Constitutional Court’s decision in 2017. The Constitutional Court decided that the Republic of Moldova declared itself a neutral state, and the authorities must respect this status. But the Court noted that by declaring yourself a neutral state, you don’t have to commit suicide as a state. The status of neutrality obliges the country to identify funds to ensure its independence. Statistical data were also brought. European states that were neutral at that moment, like Austria, Switzerland, Finland, spent on defense a higher GDP percent than NATO member states. This is the price of neutrality. Everyone understands that it is easier to protect yourself when you are a member of a political-military bloc. Everyone understands that a small country cannot cope with a policy of aggression from a giant like Russia,” said the permanent expert of the project.
Igor Boțan explained that the introduction of the status of neutrality in the Constitution was determined by the 1992 war on the Nistru. According to the expert, by introducing the status of neutrality in the Supreme Law, the then authorities hoped to speed up the withdrawal of Russian ammunition and troops staying illegally on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
“In 1994, the authorities took the decision that it is more convenient for the Republic of Moldova to be a neutral state. The arguments at the time were clear. At that time, 12% of the territory of the Republic of Moldova was illegally controlled by the Russian Federation following the 1992 war. Subsequently, the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg concluded that part of the Republic of Moldova was under the total control of Russia and Russia was responsible for the situation in the Transnistrian region. Based on the ECHR decisions, the Constitutional Court stipulated that a part of the country is occupied by the Russian Federation. Respectively, in 1994, when the article on neutrality was introduced into the Constitution, it assumed that the authorities would not be part of military blocs and thus a lever was to be obtained for the withdrawal of the Russian army from the Transnistrian region to be demanded at the international level,” the expert said.
He explained that the rhetoric according to which NATO is expanding is false as the North Atlantic Alliance only responds to the requests of states that feel threatened. In 2023, Finland officially became the 31st NATO member state, and in March 2024, Sweden became the 32nd member state of the Alliance. The two countries’ decisions to be part of the military bloc were driven by Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
“There is a country that occupies the territories of another country. It amends its own Constitution and says that now these territories belong to it, the Sea of Azov becomes an internal sea of Russia, although it has been said that Russia does not claim to occupy territories. What should small states, which have a reduced military potential compared to the Russian Federation, do? To ask for the protection of other states, which can offer support to small countries. NATO does not expand by itself. Independent countries that feel threatened ask to be accepted into NATO,” Igor Botan explained.
The public debate entitled “How can small countries defend themselves?” was is the 311th installment of the series “Developing political culture through public debates”, which is carried out by IPN News Agency with the support of the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
