CHISINAU, July 11. /TASS/. Leader of the Future of Moldova party Vasily Tarlev, who served as the eastern European country’s prime minister in 2001-2008, has demanded the authorities stop hosting military drills involving NATO members because the Moldovan constitution enshrines permanent neutrality.
"We are extremely concerned about the fact that the country’s leadership plans to host military drills involving the armies of NATO member states shortly before the September 28 parliamentary election. We call for an end to military exercises with NATO nations in our country starting in September this year. Under the constitution, Moldova is a neutral state and is not supposed to participate in conflicts or military operations, or in the drills the bloc conducts," Tarlev told Moldova's GRT television.
Opinion polls show that the vast majority of Moldova’s population opposes the idea of the country’s NATO membership. However, President Maia Sandu calls for expanding military cooperation with the North Atlantic Alliance, pointing to an alleged military threat from Russia. At her initiative, the Moldovan parliament has approved a national security strategy that describes Russia as the main threat. The strategy also notes that Moldova will strengthen cooperation with NATO and EU countries in this field. In recent years, the country’s authorities have stepped up joint drills with the militaries of NATO nations, sharply increasing defense spending. The opposition, the authorities of the autonomous region of Gagauzia and the unrecognized Republic of Transnistria harshly criticize the policy of militarization amid an economic crisis.
Moldova is in the final stages of developing a new, adapted program of cooperation with NATO, titled the Individually Tailored Partnership Program, which is set to take effect later this year. The program provides for an advanced form of cooperation with the alliance, similar to NATO’s relations with countries such as Australia, New Zealand, South Korea and Japan.