CHISINAU, December 3. /TASS/. Moldova’s parliament has given consent to the use of the national army in military operations under the auspices of the European Union as provided by the association agreement of 2014. The parliament passed relevant amendments on Thursday.
"The amendments allow Moldovan servicemen to take part not only in peacekeeping missions but also in programs of post-conflict assistance and monitoring missions. Moldova undertook these liabilities when it signed the association agreement with the European Union," Moldovan Deputy Foreign Minister Daniela Cujba said while presenting the bill.
The opposition subjected this bill to criticism saying it violated the country’s neutral status established in the Moldovan constitution. "As for the United Nations and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the situation is clear, since they are international organizations. But the European Union is a different thing, as it is a group of states. You have put an equal mark between them. Isn’t that a violation of the country’s neutrality?," Oleg Lipski, a lawmaker with the Party of Socialists, said.
The opposition Party of Communists also voted against the bill, which however was passed by the majority of votes from pro-European parties.
Under the constitution, Moldova is an off-bloc, neutral state. In the recent years, Moldovan servicemen have taken part in peacekeeping operations in a number of African countries and in operation under the United Nations’ mandate. More than a hundred of Moldovan field engineers and medics took part in six missions in Iraq and four helicopters with Moldovan crews were involved in logistics backing for the U.S. contingent in Afghanistan.