CHISINAU, February 7. /TASS/. Moldova cannot have anything to do with the military campaigns of the North Atlantic Alliance, and joining it will not solve the country’s security problems, Deputy Speaker of the Parliament of Moldova and executive secretary of Moldova’s opposition Socialist Party Vlad Batrincea told TASS on Tuesday.
"Moldova’s accession to any military bloc would not solve our country’s security problems, contrary to the authorities’ propaganda, because this is a matter of diplomacy. We still haven’t learned how to build bridges and benefit from the historical and geographical position of our country. The Moldovan people do not want and cannot have anything to do with the military campaigns of the North Atlantic Alliance," he said.
Amid mounting geopolitical tensions, calls for Moldova to join NATO have only intensified, the deputy speaker said. "Such proposals are heard more and more often from the authorities’ representatives, the ruling party (the pro-Western Party of Action and Solidarity - TASS). This is dangerous," Batrincea said.
"Very often the authorities, namely certain individuals and parties, are under external influence and try to somehow publicly interpret that it turns out that neutrality [enshrined in the Moldovan constitution] does not hinder cooperation with NATO. It turns out that NATO is practically an international diplomatic institution," he explained.
According to Batrincea, the latest poll shows that more than 55% of Moldovans, if a referendum were to be held, would vote strongly against Moldova joining NATO and only 27% would vote in favour of the move.
In January, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in an interview with Politico that in the context of the Ukrainian crisis the republic might renounce its constitutional neutrality and join NATO. However, she stressed that this decision should be taken by the citizens democratically, through a referendum. At the same time, Sandu expressed interest in intensifying cooperation with NATO to re-equip the Moldovan army. This position is also supported by other pro-European politicians, who believe that neutral status was imposed on Moldova after the Transnistrian conflict. Authorities in the unrecognized Transnistria, the Gagauz autonomy and opposition parties have strongly criticized the government’s plan for closer ties with the alliance.