NATO membership is Moldova's only effective security solution, think-tank

NATO membership is the only efficient policy option for Moldova's national security.A possible accession to NATO would become an intermediate stage of development, which by bringing Moldova closer to the Western countries, would greatly facilitate its European integration. These are some of the highlights of IDIS Viitorul's study “In NATO We Trust? Explaining Why Moldova Would Need to Join NATO”, released today in Chisinau, Info-Prim Neo reports. “Moldova’s integration into NATO would represent an insurance against possible instabilities or accidents that may affect a transition country, at the same time offering important economic, social and security benefits”, thinks Igor Munteanu, executive director of IDIS Viitorul. IDIS expert Dumitru Manzarari has researched the political and security costs and benefits. According to him, there is no any other more efficient option than the Euro-Atlantic integration: “Only by joining NATO will Moldova be able to diminish the dangerous effects on its security generated by the latest security developments in the region. Among them we should mention the suspension by Russia of its participation in the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe, the recent war between Russia and Georgia, the erosion of the international law principles and of the diminishing influence of the international regulatory organizations.” Security is an irreplaceable condition for economic growth, considers IDIS expert Veaceslav Ionita: “There is a direct and obvious correlation between the security of a country and the volume of received FDI. FDI represents a barometer of the national economic climate.” In Romania and Poland, it is the FDI that played the role of the job generator, the IDIS expert remarked. It should be stressed that in Moldova the salaries offered by foreign employers are about 70% higher than the salaries offered by domestic firms, resulting in an increase of the people’s welfare. The national security costs (1-1.5% GDP if Moldova joins NATO, comparing with the current 0.5-0.9% GDP) in fact represent an investment. “These costs will be easily recovered, through the increase of budge acquisitions as a result of more jobs being created, and the increase in the production volume,” states Veaceslav Ioniţă. According to that assessments of IDIS Viitorul, a possible integration into NATO would bring annually 25.000 new jobs and foreign direct investments of $2 billion annually during at least 10 years – a period sufficient to develop Moldovan economy to an average level of the current NATO members. Through the publication of this study, IDIS Viitorul aims at contributing to the quality of specialized public debates, and at enriching the knowledge of security related issues, in the conditions when no single former socialist country has joined EU without its prior integration into NATO.