CHISINAU, June 19. /TASS/. Transnistria’s authorities are concerned over the increasing supplies of Western weapons to Moldova, president of the unrecognized republic, Vadim Krasnoselsky, said on Monday.
"This should be monitored; it should be analyzed what kind of weapons are supplied: either defensive or offensive, lethal or not, and so on. <…> Naturally, we must think about our armed forces, about our defense capabilities, about how we will defend ourselves. We are not aggressors, I have said this many times. We don’t threaten either Ukraine or Moldova. Of course, we must defend ourselves. And will do that. We will not have a repeat of what happened in 1992," the presidential press service quoted him as saying.
According to the Transnistrian leader, growing arms supplies to Moldova "are linked with the developments in Ukraine." "Tiraspol understands that this process cannot be stopped," he added.
Despite constitutional neutrality, Moldovan authorities increased their defense budget for 2023 by 68%, to 1.523 million leus (89 million US dollars), or 0.5% of GDP. Earlier, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said that the United States, the European Union and NATO had increased assistance to the republic to help it boost its defense capability. More than 40 million euro have been pledged for this purpose. According to the defense ministry, the Moldovan army is already receiving firearms. Supplies of state-of-the-art mobile platforms, communication means, and drones are also planned.
Apart from that, Moldova participates in NATO’s Partnership For Peace program and the Defense Capabilities Initiative. Its first stage ended in the approval of the national defense strategy. The second stage envisages assistance, including from the alliance’s special trust fund. The Moldovan government’s decision to boost defense spending at a time when the country is going through a severe economic crisis came under sharp criticism from the opposition.