Deputy Prime Minister Nicu Popescu, Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, said the Republic of Moldova is ready for any negative or positive scenarios related to the tense situation on the Russian-Ukrainian border. In a statement for RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service, Nicu Popescu reaffirmed hope that the current tensions in the region will be resolved by peaceful ways, by dialogue, based on the respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of all the states of the region, evidently of Ukraine and of the Republic of Moldova too,” IPN reports.
“Obviously, we are concerned, but we hope that this phase of tensions will be overcome,” stated the official.
At the Romanian military base Mihail Kogălnicean, both NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and the President of Romania Klaus Iohannis spoke about the danger posed by the crisis on the Russian-Ukrainian border. Klaus Iohannis described this threat as the most serious one since the Fall of the Iron Curtain. “The current crisis is not only regional, which stops in Ukraine, at the Black Sea or at European security. This crisis affects the security of the whole Euro-Atlantic space,” said Klaus Iohannis.
On February 8, the U.S. started to transfer troops to Romania on a temporary basis, following the tensions between the West and Russia related to the situation around Ukraine. NATO is bolstering its military presence along its eastern borders. During a visit to Romania on February 11, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said NATO is considering reinforcing its eastern flank for a longer period of time, with battle groups in Romania and in other countries in its southeastern parts.
