National Security Strategy does not contain measures to prevent energy risks, APE

The National Security Strategy does not include measures aimed at preventing energy threats, but only general definitions, says Andrei Popov, executive director of the Foreign Policy Association (APE). “I read two pages and find only definitions of the risks and no solutions to this not at all virtual danger that threatens us now,” Popov told a roundtable meeting on the draft strategy. According to the analyst, the stipulations regarding the energy security of Romania and the United States occupy only a paragraph, but contain concrete solutions for managing energy-related risks. It should be the same in Moldova. “The strategy should envision such measures as the connection to Romania’s energy system, building up stocks, possibility to switch to crude oil,” Popov said. He said he is surprised at the Moldovan authorities’ decision to not import electric power from Ukraine from January 1 and to purchase it from the Cuchurgan power plant. “I think that the national security conception is infringed. Instead of diversifying the sources, we strengthen the dependence on one market, but the already adopted conception of the strategy bans this,” the executive director of the APE said. The draft National Security Strategy was proposed for public discussions on December 31, 2008. The Government published the draft strategy on its website (www.gov.md). Proposals can be submitted to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration by January 19.