The Republic of Moldova would not resist long without Western support in case of Russian military aggression, but there is now no risk that the war from Ukraine will expand to Moldova, either on the right side or on the left side of the Nistru, Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilița stated in an interview for RFE/RL’s Moldovan Service. She noted that a decision by Russia to extend the military actions is highly improbable as the Republic of Moldova is a ureteral country that never aimed to join NATO, IPN reports.
“It has been 71 days of an unjust war that has serious consequences all over the region and even all over the world. At the moment, we feel the most the economic consequences. Our entrepreneurs had to reorient trading activities. We see long rows of trucks at border crossing points with Romania and Ukraine’s trade also goes through border crossing points with Romania. We have this flow of refugees. Over 90,000 refugees are still in Moldova. The people do not feel safe. There is a kind of disquiet and insecurity and everyone wonders what the risks are, whether it is worth investing or not and I think this is the biggest risk,” stated Natalia Gavrilița.
According to her, there are concerns and risks because the Transnistrian region is a separatist one and is a territory that is not controlled by the central authorities and there is a foreign army there, of Russia, which is involved in a war. This surely generates risks.
“I want to assure the citizens that our analysis shows that at the moment there are no imminent risks that the war will extend to the territory of the Republic of Moldova, either the right side or the left side of the river. We should think what the extension of the military actions or of the war into the Republic of Moldova, even if that territory is not controlled, would mean generally. This would mean that a neutral country that never aimed and made effort to join NATO is engaged in a war. What European public opinion would be and what reactions would follow. Many of our citizens have the nationality of Romania, which is an EU member state and a NATO member country. So, everyone helps us to attentively follow this situation,” explained the Premier.
Natalia Gavrilița also said that the Government is making all the diplomatic efforts to maintain calmness and to prevent military actions on Moldova’s territory.
