The Multinational Peacekeeping military exercise organized within the frameworks of the Partnership for Peace: Cooperative Longbow/Lancer 2006 program, which is organized at present in Moldova, has no link to the situation in the country, Cayetano Miro Valls, NATO general-lieutenant declared on Wednesday, September 13. According to him, these kinds of exercises are organized in 26 member countries of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization and 20 countries included in the Partnership for Peace and never had had any tangency with the situation of the host country. Hence, there is no tangency with the state of affairs in the Republic of Moldova. According to Valls, the exercise is organized according to a fictive scenario, on the basis of which the participants improve the cooperation procedures with the General Staffs, increase the level co-operation. These kinds of exercises are among the most useful instruments for promoting the long-term policies of the partnership and cooperation between all Euro-Atlantic countries aimed at maintaining peace, promoting democracy and contributing to prosperity and progress, the cited source added. On Wednesday, exercises’ opening ceremony took place at the Ministry of Defense. Officials from Chisinau and representatives of NATO participated in the event. The minister of Defense, Valeriu Plesca declared for the press that these exercises have nothing in common with the present situation in Transnistria and the independence referendum planned for September 17. According to the minister, the organization of the exercises was planned 2 years ago, when nothing was known about the evolution of the Transnistrian conflict. Plesca declared MDL 10 mln were spent from the budget of the Republic of Moldova for the organization of the exercises. About 1000 militaries and 50 civilians from 21 countries and international organizations are involved in Cooperative Longbow-Lancer 2006. Cooperative Longbow 06 and Cooperative Lancer 06 aim at training the officers of the General Staff and the field troops, promoting interaction in peacekeeping operations in case of response scenarios in crisis situations and humanitarian assistance operations. Exercises will take place on September 11-20.