The Russian invasion of Ukraine caused a civilizational rupture in the word and the Republic of Moldova, as a part of this world, should rethink its existence, including the national security policy where, besides army equipment aspects, the patriotic education of the population should also have a place, Nataliei Stercul, programs coordinator at the Foreign Policy Association, stated in a public debate on the issue hosted by IPN News Agency.
Given that one of the pretexts of the invasion of Ukraine was the demilitarization of this country, aren’t there dangers that the non-lethal assistance of the EU (in the fields of military logistics, mobility, command and control, cybersecurity, capacity to monitor the situation and tactical communication) will generate pretentions from outside so that the Ukrainian script is ultimately implemented in Moldova?
Asked to treat the subject of the discussion from this angle, the expert noted the criticism coming from inside from those who openly or covertly support the Russian Federation. “What is important is that this support is expressed by the attitude of the internal political players to the legislation of the state, which they break, by the attitude to the persons who adopted the law, to the legal powered and to the own citizens. It is a position of support for the Russian Federation and for that “special operation” conducted against Ukraine,” stated the expert.
As to the eventual criticism from outside of the EU assistance, Natalia Stercul reminded of the position of the President of Belarus Alexandr Lukashenko (who showed a map of the military operations in the neighboring country, with an arrow from Crimea to the Transnistrian region, e.n.). He said that he should not be told about the Bucha horrors which he considers are the result of a British operation. What is important now is to increase the country’s and its army’s military capacity.
The expert made reference to the data of the think tank Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. “The military costs in the world last year for the first time exceeded US$2 trillion. I think all the tendencies that existed now follow an opposite trend. The mechanism of sanctions stimulates the discouragement of Russia. However, despite the calls to end the war, this continues and people continue to die, but Ukraine resists. We also see the second stage of the so-called “special operation”. Moldova is covered by the narrative that accompanies it,” said the expert, noting the developments involve not only Moldova, but also a much wider area near the Black Sea. “In such conditions, the place of the army and its equipment should be reassessed, while the national security strategy and the perception of regional security should reflect the realities that could not be imagined before February 24.”
The public debate entitled “What does it mean, why is it necessary and who is bothered by additional military support provided by EU?” was the 244th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
