President Igor Dodon has a big problem with the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. The newly elected President is afraid that NATO wants to absorb the Republic of Moldova. The authors of a new Sic! article said this is now concerned that the opening of a NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau will violate the country’s principle of neutrality and will create difficulties in settling the Transnistrian conflict. He made such statements immediately after the meeting with NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller.

In this regard, Igor Dodon requested the NATO officials not to hurry to open the Office, threatening that in the future they will return to the status of this Office. Moreover, Igor Dodon asked to sign an agreement between the Republic of Moldova and the NATO Office concerning the recognition of Moldova’s permanent neutrality.

In the news conference, Rose Gottemoeller repeatedly assured Igor Dodon that NATO recognizes and respects Moldova’s neutrality. He reminded that this is defined in the NATO-Moldova Individual Partnership Action Plan, which is an official document that was published on the Ministry of Foreign Affairs’ website, said the authors of the Sic! article.

According to them, though he obstinately opposes the opening of a NATO Liaison Office, Igor Dodon didn’t remind about the participation by Moldovan soldiers in NATO missions. “Probably, Dodon also realizes the practical advantages of this participation: Moldova contributes to regional security and improves its image at foreign level and our contingents gain valuable experience and this is also a source of income for the National Army, which faces an acute shorting of funds,” says the article.

This also says that the NATO Office has exactly the same effect on the Transnistrian conflict as on the neutrality. “It would be as logical for Dodon to ask for the closure of Romania’s Embassy as the Transnistrian leaders in Tiraspol do not like the Romanians. (...) The sad truth is that progress in the Transnistrian region is close to zero. Things stagnate and Moldova has nothing to lose if it closer cooperates with NATO,” said the authors.

According to them, Igor Dodon prefers to ignore the fact that the Office is not a military mission. This fact was mentioned by Rose Gottemoeller, Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg and NATO spokeswoman Oana Lungescu. The spokeswoman clearly said that this will be a small, diplomatic and civil office where most of the employees will be actually Moldovan.

“The Office’s mission will be rather simple. Besides serving as a constant and efficient communication bridge, NATO already implements programs in Moldova and this Office will contribute to their successful implementation. It will also identify new cooperation segments and areas where Moldova needs assistance, will consult the Moldovan authorities on such issues as the defense reform, working out and implementation of the national security strategy,” said the authors.

In conclusion, the authors said Igor Dodon’s problem is that in virtue of his pro-Russian speech, he should be critical of the West, especially of NATO, which is a military alliance. But surely the President does not want to renounce the NATO programs from which Moldova benefits almost unilaterally.

The full article in Romanian can be read on sic.md. Sic! is a project implemented by IPN News Agency with support from Soros Foundation Moldova.