At the end of the year, President Maia Sandu came with an optimistic message for the citizens of the Republic of Moldova. She assured that despite the rhetoric of the SIS director, there are no imminent risks to the security and integrity of the Republic of Moldova. The official noted that owing to the progress made by the Ukrainian army, the military danger was moved away from Moldova’s border. She called on the citizens to show unity and solidarity so as to overcome the economic, social and energy crisis experienced by Moldova, IPN reports.
Even if earlier the SIS director said that Russia at the beginning of 2023 could start to implement its plan to create a land corridor up to the Transnistrian region, Maia Sandu said Moldova is not exposed to military dangers now.
“The war on our border implies risks to the whole region, especially to us. But we continue being united, solidary so as not to allow the country to be destabilized as the corrupt forces supported by the Russian Federation want to upset the European course of the Republic of Moldova. We must realize these risks and not allow these corrupt forces that are foreign to the country’s interests to engage the Republic of Moldova into a war. We must analyze all the scenarios and have solutions for all the scenarios, but there are now no imminent dangers to the Republic of Moldova, owing to the courage of the Ukrainian army. Today we can say that the danger is further from us than it was six months ago,” Maia Sandu stated in the program “In the Context” on the public TV channel.
Moreover, the official said the subject of Moldova’s neutrality has been discussed with the country’s development partners and the Moldovan authorities’ request is to be offered assistance in strengthening the defense capabilities. However, the modernization of the National Army does not imply the renunciation of the status of neutrality stipulated in the Constitution.
“We tell our development partners that we are not sufficiently prepared as no investments have been made in the country’s defense system during these three decades. We are now making effort and we achieved particular results, but we cannot work miracles overnight. But we will continue to strengthen the defense system of the Republic of Moldova and bank on the support of the countries that can help us. At internal level, we have manipulative rhetoric on the part of irresponsible politicians who say that neutrality means not having a defense system. This is absolutely wrong. Neutrality means that you can defend the country yourself. There is a provision in our Constitution and it is supported by most of our citizens,” said President Sandu.
Under the 2023 state budget law, the allocations for Moldova’s defense system total about 1.7 billion lei, which is 0.55% of the GDP.
