CHISINAU, October 8. /TASS/. Brussels is preparing Moldova for war, regarding it not as a future EU member state but as frontline territory, Igor Dodon, former president and the leader of the Patriotic Electoral Bloc, said.
"The current EU authorities are preparing Moldova for war and regard our country not as a future EU member state, but as a frontline territory that they could potentially use against their geopolitical opponents. That is why they need their puppet regime here, represented by Maia Sandu and her Party of Action and Solidarity. They are pumping Moldova with military equipment so that, in case of necessity, they can ignite another hotspot on the map," Dodon wrote on his Telegram channel.
Earlier, the Moldovan parliament approved a national security strategy proposed by Sandu that names Russia as the biggest threat. Despite Moldova's enshrined constitutional neutrality, the strategy states that Chisinau will strengthen its cooperation with NATO and EU countries in this area and increase its arms spending. Meanwhile, all opposition parties are criticizing the multimillion-dollar defense spending during an economic crisis.
This has raised concerns in the Gagauz autonomy and the unrecognized Transnistria, who are worried about the increased frequency of NATO drills near the security zone guarded by Russian peacekeepers. Moldovan civil society is also concerned about the increasing presence of foreign servicemen on the streets of the country's towns.
The Russian Foreign Intelligence Service (SVR) press bureau did not rule out the deployment of armed forces from EU countries or NATO in Moldova to keep the country aligned with anti-Russian sentiment. The bureau emphasized that provocations against Transnistria or Russian peacekeepers could be used as a pretext for deploying troops.