CHISINAU, October 23. /TASS/. President of the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria Vadim Krasnoselsky has expressed concern over the increased military spending and the growing number of drills in Moldova.
"We are worried over the number of drills conducted by Moldova. Their number is growing. Moldova’s defense spending is growing as well. We are keeping an eye on this so far. The most important thing is to see to it that it doesn’t create, so to say, a premise for an interest to try to resolve the problem by force," he said at a meeting with Latvian Ambassador to Chisinau Edgars Bondars. The relevant video was posted by Kreasnoselsky’s press service.
This year, Moldova conducted eight military drills. Some of them were held near the buffer zone protected by Russian peacekeepers. The number of reservist exercises has doubled. Apart from that, Moldovan soldiers took part in five drills abroad.
Moldova has also increased its defense budget by 68%, to 1.5 billion leu ($89 million), or about 0.5% of the country’s GDP. Moreover, Chisinau has asked military assistance from the European Union and the United States.