National Army will stage military parade on its 20th anniversary

“I hope we will also stage a military parade next year, when it will be 20 years of the foundation of the National Army. We are also proud of what the Army has,” Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta said in a news conference on September 3, when the National Army celebrates 19 years of its creation, Info-Prim Neo reports. The minister was asked to say what he thought about the armored vehicles presented at the parade held in Tiraspol on September 2. “It is not difficult to make a show. It was a show specially prepared in order to intimidate somebody. We, the National Army, will be able to respond to any enemy. I hope we will not need to resort to military action, while the efforts made by the Moldovan authorities and the international community to solve the Transnistrian conflict will produce results,” he stated. Vitalie Marinuta said Moldova is a peaceful, neutral country that does not resort to threats. “I think the authorities of the Transnistrian region should do the same,” he stressed. As to the provision of the National Army with new armament, Marinuta said the Ministry of Defense’s budget is too small and they cannot purchase expensive equipment. Most of the military units used in Moldova date back from the Soviet times. “However they are not so bad. A part of them are old, but the other part are maintained in a good form and are involved in military operations,” he said. According to Vitalie Marinuta, the Ministry’s budget is 205 million lei. The costs incurred for a soldier total 22,000 lei a year. “Time will come and the Army will have an appropriate budget,” he said.