CHISINAU, September 23. /TASS/. Romania, which is a NATO member country, will help Moldova align its army with NATO standards, the press service of the Moldovan Defense Ministry reports on Wednesday citing an agreement on technical cooperation in military standardization signed by the countries’ defense ministries.

"The document is destined to boost cooperation with an aim to reform and update the armies of the two countries in line with the standards of NATO and the European Union," it said.

The agreement was inked on Tuesday by the defense ministers of Moldova and Romania, Anatol Salaru and Mircea Dusa, at a session of the two countries’ governments in Romanian Constanta. It said the document had been worked out in full conformity with the 2012 treaty on military cooperation between the two countries.

At a joint news conference, the defense ministers of Moldova and Romania announced the unveiling of a NATO mission in Chisinau later in autumn.

Under the Moldovan constitution, it is a neutral state that cannot join military blocs. However, Chisinau maintains that this is not an obstacle to cooperation within the framework of the North-Atlantic partnership program, in which NATO experts consult Moldovan military and offer assistance in the scrapping of outmoded weapons. Moldova, for its part, sends its military to Alliance’s peacekeeping operations.

Anatol Salaru is vice chairman of the Liberal Party, which wants Moldova to renounce its neutral status and join NATO. The opposition criticized his appointment to the post of defence minister in July.