NATO offers the Republic of Moldova a package of nonlethal assistance. The decision was taken in a meeting of the NATO Ministers of Defense held in Brussels. According to NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană, the package of assistance is a response to the official Chisinau’s request to help Moldova cope with the challenges of the hybrid war, IPN reports.
The NATO official said the package of assistance is offered in the context of the regional security crisis and the hybrid war waged by Russia on Moldova. The support of the whole NATO bloc is nonlethal, but each NATO member can offer Moldova also military assistance.
“The use by Russia of the arsenal of the hybrid warfare receives a response from us at the request of Chisinau. The ministers approved a package of cooperation with the Republic of Moldova as regards nonlethal assistance. Nothing else than support for resilience, support for communication, support against disinformation. Also, at bilateral level the Government in Chisinau and President Maia Sandu made requests for military support. This cannot be done through NATO. NATO is a facilitator and I’m glad that the UK, Germany, Romania responded to this call,” Mircea Geoană stated in the program “Black Box” on TV8 channel.
The NATO official underlined that the nonlethal assistance includes cyber-security elements and training for employees.
“It is a partnership we are building at the request of the Republic of Moldova. We didn’t impose anything. On the contrary, we were very receptive so as to approve and finance these requests. Resilience in cybersecurity is very important. It goes to education and training. NATO has an old program that we will continue. It is the Building Integrity program. We work with government system employees so that they have capacity to work with complex projects, to be sure there is transparency and there is no corruption temptation. So, it goes to a combination of concrete security and institutional aspects as we want a state that can work and can fulfill its duties towards the citizens,” said the NATO Deputy Secretary General.
On February 13, President Maia Sandu announced the existence of a Kremlin plan to oust the government in Chisinau by violent actions. According to the head of state, subversive activities are to be staged with the involvement of foreigners.
