If the Republic of Moldova, a sovereign state, asks for the protection of Romania, another sovereign state, help can be granted. And NATO does not necessarily have to be involved as an entity, although NATO would have no problem acting, Cristian Barna, professor at the Babeş Bolyai University in Cluj and the University of Bucharest, stated in an interview with Spotmedia.ro, being quoted by IPN.
In an election year, the dangers of destabilization are very great and are evident in the Republic of Moldova, said the researcher. The message disseminated by the Kremlin is that the European Union and NATO are aggressors. This will create problems by frightening the population by saying that if Moldova takes steps in the Western direction, it will have the fate of Ukraine, and this makes the people somewhat scared.
In addition to information warfare, there is also physical danger. Western chancelleries are trying to discourage a possible Russian action aimed at Tiraspol, saying NATO is ready to take decisive steps to prevent the war in Ukraine from spreading. On the other hand, the revanchist forces invested a lot of money in destabilizing and eroding Moldovan state institutions. The investments will continue, first of all, through Ilan Shor, “the spearhead of the Russian Federation in Moldova”, who leads the destabilization actions through protests and violence. The case of the 80 “tourists” trained in Turkey, the transportation of money to finance protests, buying of votes in the recent local elections are also relevant.
The expert believes that the delayed way in which they acted in Ukraine made the Westerners change the strategy and stop waiting.
“I think that this time, neither NATO, nor the European Union, obviously, nor Romania can afford to lose Moldova, to allow it be conquered by Russia, no matter what happens in Ukraine. Macron’s statement that we will be ready for NATO soldiers to act must also be understood from this perspective.
There were already discussions last year, when both President Klaus Iohannis and other Western leaders said very clearly: Moldova will be defended at any cost. Why? Because this has shown the Russian Federation that it can no longer do everything,” said the researcher. Only a coalition of NATO states, for example, France, the U.S. and Romania, can intervene, he believes.
As for the argument that Romania is doing nothing but what NATO asks it to do, Cristian Barna reminded that the United States attacked Iraq in 2002, without doing it together with NATO, which creates a precedent.
