CHISINAU, December 15. /TASS/. Moldova’s parliament has adopted the country’s national security strategy, where Russia is named a a main threat.

According to a TASS correspondent, the document, which was initiated by President Maia Sandu, was supported by lawmakers with the Party of Solidarity and Action, while the opposition bloc of Communists and Socialists voted against.

"Russia’s aggressive policy has a strongly pronounced regional implication. Thus, its hostile actions turn the process of the accelerated buildup of Moldova’s security and defense system potential into a strategic imperative," according to the document.

Earlier, Russian Foreign Ministry Spokeswoman Maria Zakharova slammed President Sandu’s initiative as groundless, saying that Russia has always respected Moldova’s interests. She described Chisinau’s current position toward Moscow as Russophobic.

According to the strategy, Romania will be Moldova’s strategic partner in the sphere of security and defense. Apart from that, Moldova will strengthen security and defense cooperation with the countries of the European Union, as well as with the United Kingdom, the United States, and Turkey. It will also invigorate cooperation with NATO.

The document’s authors note that Moldova needs well-equipped and well-trained armed forces that would be highly compatible with the armies of its partner nations. For these ends, it is planned to increase military spending up to 1% of GDP in the next ten years.

This year, Moldova, a neutral state under its constitution, increased its defense budget by 68%, to 1.5 billion leu ($89 million), or about 0.55% of the country’s GDP. Moreover, Chisinau has asked military assistance from the European Union and the United States.

Moldova’s militarization caused concern in the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria. Tiraspol is also worried over the increased number of drills conducted in the vicinity of the buffer zone protected by Russian peacekeepers.