The status of neutrality left us alone in front of the challenges, with a defense system that is not relevant at the moment, said Minister of Defense Anatolie Nosatyi. According to him, the discussions on the revision of the status of neutrality should be initiated by politicians and an eventual decision on accession to a military alliance should be taken following a broad process of consultation with the citizens. The Republic of Moldova is not ready to join NATO and the polemics around this issue form part of the hybrid war, IPN reports.
In an interview for Politico, President Maia Sandu said that serious discussions are now held to see if the Republic of Moldova can ensure its security on its own or if accession to a larger alliance is necessary. In this connection, the minister of defense said the renouncing of the status of neutrality should coincide with the people’s wish to form part of a military bloc or not.
“Regrettably, the defense sector was ignored. Investments weren’t made and we cannot cope with the current challenges. Our status of neutrality left us alone and with a system that is not relevant to the present day. The revision of the status of neutrality is within the remit of politicians and they should do this taking into account the citizens’ opinion. This subject should be proposed for debates and analyzed. A democratic process should take place in accordance with all the provisions,” Anatolie Nosatyi stated in the program “Résumé with Ileana Pîrgaru” on RliveTV channel.
The minister noted that the affiliation to a military alliance does not imply the obligation to join NATO. Moldova is far from meeting the standards of the NATO member countries.
“They all speculate on NATO, but Missis President didn’t mention NATO. She said an alliance, but the alliances are different. There are local, regional alliances. But all those who want to manipulate on the issue invoked NATO. NATO is a very powerful political-military alliance and the wish to become a member of this is not enough. Steps should be taken and one should be accepted and should implement standards in the preparation process, in equipment. First of all, this issue is not discussed now as we are not even ready. A discussion is held in order to generate polemics in society and to distract attention from other problems. We should first see what the citizens of the Republic of Moldova want,” said Anatolie Nosatyi.
President Maia Sandu’s statement about the possibility of joining an alliance generated a wave of criticism. Politicians in Moldova and Russia accused the Moldovan government of trying to involve the country into a war.
“I do not comment on what those who want the Republic of Moldova to be a poorly developed country, which does not have a defense system and resilience, say. They want us to have no capacity to respond to challenges. All these discussions are a component part of a hybrid war conducted against the government and the Republic of Moldova’s statehood,” stated the minister.
In accordance with the Constitution, the Republic of Moldova is a neutral state. The supreme law can be amended by Parliament, by the votes of at least 2/3 of the MPs.
