The NATO Liaison Office that will be opened in Chisinau will not affect the neutrality status of the Republic of Moldova, said experts invited to the program “Fabrika” on Publika TV channel, IPN reports.

“A country can be neutral and have rather good cooperation relations with NATO. There are EU countries that are neutral, but these cooperate with NATO. The opening of a NATO Liaison Office does not mean that we joined the North Atlantic Alliance,” said Elena Marzac, director of the NATO Information and Documentation Center in Chisinau.

Ghenadie Cosovan, ex-deputy minister of the interior, said the Russian Federation also has a cooperation agreement with NATO and, respectively, a Liaison Office. “Why should Igor Dodon worry and criticize us so much if Russia also signed a cooperation contract with NATO. Why didn’t they go then to picket the Embassy of Russia?” asked Cosovan.  

Vitalie Marinuta, ex-minister of defense, stated that the Republic of Moldova has long cooperated with NATO and this cooperation didn’t stop in the Communist period either. “The NATO Information and Documentation Center was opened in Chisinau in 2005. In 2007, the largest exercise that involved NATO troops was staged on Moldova’s territory. Moldova didn’t lose its neutrality status. The events took place under the Communist rule and the then Government included Igor Dodon, who wasn’t bothered at that time,” he stated.

During a recent visit to Brussels, Prime Minister Pavel Filip and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg signed an agreement to open a NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau. In the signing ceremony, Jens Stoltenberg said the NATO Liaison Office is civilian, not military and the North Atlantic Alliance respects Moldova’s status of neutrality and its territorial integrity and sovereignty. According to him, the Office could be inaugurated next spring.