MOSCOW, May 17. /TASS/. NATO’s office in Chisinau that was opened in December 2017 may be closed after parliamentary elections in Moldova, Moldovan President Igor Dodon said in an interview with Russia’s Izvestia daily.

"There is high probability that the alliance’s office would be closed following parliamentary elections at the end of the current year," he said.

He stressed he had always been against opening the NATO office in Moldova. In his words, the office’s mission is to exert influence on public opinion in Moldova to push the country towards closer contacts with NATO. "They understand that Moldova’s people do not support this idea and are using their office to try to change the public opinion. I don’t think they will be able to do that in a short-term perspective," Dodon said.

Opinion polls indicate that most of Moldovans are against closer relations with NATO. Despite its neutral status since 1994, the country has been cooperating with the alliance as part of individual partnership plan. The ruling pro-European coalition formed around the Democratic Party of Moldova stands for closer ties with NATO and opened a NATO liaison office in Chisinau in December 2017.

Parliamentary polls will be held in Moldova late in 2018. According to opinion polls, the Party of Socialists that advocates Moldova’s accession to the Eurasian Economic Union (EAEU) may count on support from about a half voters and, hence, it would be able to control the majority of seats in the and form a new government.