Moldova will benefit from decisions made at NATO Summit

The Republic of Moldova will be positively influenced by the decision of the North Atlantic Council to accept Georgia and Ukraine into NATO when the two countries comply with the imposed standards, the analyst on security problems Radu Gorincioi considers. “In Bucharest, Georgia and Ukraine received permission to start the accession process after they are included in the Membership Action Plan (MAP), most probably in December. This means that NATO will make effort, together with the two states, to ensure stability in the region and to solve the frozen conflicts,” Radu Gorincioi told Info-Prim Neo from Bucharest. The analyst said that such a decision will increase the interest of the European countries that are already present in the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine, but also the United States’s interest in remedying the situation in the eastern part of Moldova. “There will be grater interest in modernizing the infrastructure, securing the border, ensuring better interoperability between the armies,” the expert said. According to Gorincioi, if a compromise is reached with Russia as to the modification of the present tripartite peacekeeping format by co-opting civil international observers, including from the EU and NATO member states, the Transnistrian conflict could be solved quicker. “It would not be a settlement in record terms as it is planned, but an impulse will be given, including to Moldova, to take clearer steps,” the analyst said, reminding that President Vladimir Voronin has earlier stated that he expects the U.S. and the EU to become members in the negotiating process after this summit. Asked to comment on the official statements that NATO supports the sovereignty, security and independence of the states that face frozen conflicts, including Moldova, which were made after the meeting of the North Atlantic Council, Radu Gorincioi stressed that this is the third confirmation of the kind by which NATO shows concern for the security and stability of these countries. He said that unlike the first two statements made by the present and previous NATO Secretary Generals, the last does not underline the necessity of withdrawing the Russian troops. “In fact, the sovereignty, security and independence imply the withdrawal of foreign troops and the resolution of disputes,” the expert said. NATO welcomes the accession aspirations of the two former Soviet states. “Georgia and Ukraine will become members of NATO,” the Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer said on April 3. MAP is the next stage in the relations with these countries. Immediately after the summit, the foreign ministers will open talks to eliminate the problems that could hinder the implementation of the plan.