Minister of Defense Anatolie Nosatyi said there are for now no signs showing that Russia intends to attack the Republic of Moldova. He noted that as long as fighting takes place in eastern Ukraine, Moldova cannot be engaged in war. However, if something like this happens, the armed forces will be involved in the protection of the country’s sovereignty and independence, IPN reports.
As a career service member, Antolie Nosatyi said the events in Ukraine are a large-scale war. As long as the frontline is not on the Nikolayev-Odessa direction, there are no preconditions for Moldova to be engaged in war.
“Now the main battles are in eastern Ukraine. From military viewpoint, as long as the Nikolayev-Odessa region is not under direct threat, there are no dangers. If there are signs that the military operations are redirected to the Nikolayev-Odessa direction, we will have to change the actions and to be more active as to an eventual response to potential scenarios involving the Republic of Moldova. If fighting moves to the Nikolayev-Odessa region, we will have a new major problem related to the management of the refugee crisis. The flow of refugees is expected to be rather large,” Anatolie Nosatyi stated in the talk show “Secrets of the Power” on JurnalTV channel.
The minister noted that if Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity come under attack, the National Army will defend the country within its possibilities. He admitted that the army is weak and badly-equipped.
“From military viewpoint, the National Army will protect the sovereignty and territorial integrity according to its preparedness level. It was mentioned not only once that the Republic of Moldova is not under threat. But if it is under threat, all the forces of the national defense system will be engaged in the protection of the state. With the budget we have, we cannot maintain a large army. We maintain the forces needed in times of peace, to help the local administration, the Ministry of Home Affairs and other bodies to manage the crisis. The equipment level depends on the financial possibilities and we do not have such possibilities,” said the minister.
According to Anatolie Nosatyi, the personnel of the National Army consists of 6,500 service members and 2,000 civilians.
