As the clouds of war begin to thicken over the Carpathians, the port canal of Alexandroupolis begins to overheat. The passage of NATO supply convoys to and from the hot zone of war-torn Ukraine is expected to be the largest in recent years. Dangerous instability in Moldova sharply increases the military role of Alexandroupolis. “From mid-March to the end of August, there will be unprecedented mobility in terms of military supply to the forces of the Alliance on the western shores of the Black Sea and above, at a time when the clouds of war are gathering on the borders of Romania,” he told a “K” source monitoring the “rotations” NATO through Alexandroupolis in South Eastern Europe after the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

US Deputy Secretary of Defense Celeste Wallander, who accompanied Anthony Blinken on his tour of the Eastern Mediterranean, left for Alexandroupolis on Monday. The American minister, along with her colleague Nikos Hardalia, GEETHA head Konstantinos Floros, and her country’s ambassador to Athens, Georges Tsounis, visited the headquarters of the 12th division, as well as the port premises, where she was briefed by her president. Konstantinos Hatzimikhael about upcoming transits.

Under other circumstances, the movement of convoys with supplies would be a “routine” procedure, in the context of military exercises that constantly take place on the route from Bulgaria and Romania to Slovakia and Poland. However, now a new parameter has been added to the dangerous equation of the Ukrainian conflict – the impending destabilization of Moldova, the leadership of which directly blames Moscow.

NATO does not have a deployed force in Moldova, as this would be perceived by Russia as a provocation and likely to escalate the conflict. But he is watching this from neighboring Romania, where he has a well-equipped multinational “order of battle” of at least 7,000 men under French commander Trican de la Goutte, a force mostly supplied through Alexandroupolis, ready to intervene.

The events of recent days in Moldova, which has only recently received the status of an EU candidate. countries, seeking to strengthen their pro-Western orientation, alerted Westerners. The pro-European president of a country of 2,700,000, Maia Sandu, fired Prime Minister Natalia Gavrylika, saying “it’s time for her to step down due to the multiple crises caused by Russian aggression in Ukraine” and appointed former secret service chief Dorin Retchan in her place. . Earlier, there were statements by representatives of law enforcement agencies about an attempt by Russia and Putin himself to destabilize the country and overthrow the government, in the same spirit there were statements by Vladimir Zelensky, who even spoke about the impending military attack by Russia. across Moldova. The political earthquake was followed by demonstrations by thousands of Moldovans who suddenly took to the streets of the capital Chisinau precisely as a sign of protest – according to the government, they came out at the instigation of a powerful pro-Russian party. A poor country, politically divided between pro-Russian and pro-Western, Moldova occupies a strategic position in scenarios involving the war in Ukraine, as the Italian newspaper il Tempo notes, as part of it, which is overwhelmingly Russian-dominated, that Transnistria has de facto seceded and hosts a strong Russian military force with missiles and heavy weapons on its territory. Since the new Moldovan Prime Minister in his very first statements raised the issue of the withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria, the Kremlin’s reaction was immediate and harsh. Through his representative Dmitry Peskov, he demanded that the Moldovan authorities be “careful about the presence of Russian troops in Transnistria” and described the relations between the two sides as “very tense”, accusing the Chisinau leadership of cultivating “anti-Russian sentiments.” hysteria” among the population.

The Alliance sounded the alarm about the instability that Moscow is fueling in Moldova.

In such an unstable environment and with disturbing signs of a transfer due to the destabilization of Moldova, tensions towards the south, the military and not only the importance of the port of Alexandroupolis is increasing.

In addition to military projects, the preparation of its infrastructure and its use in the reconstruction of post-war Ukraine has already begun. Everyone agrees that the Alexandrupol canal is meant to be the main artery for the transport of materials and all kinds of goods to and from the devastated Ukraine, and therefore the rapid modernization of the railway line connecting it with the road network and ports is being attempted to the north (Constanta, Varna, Burgas , mouth of the Danube, Baltic).

In the coming days, NATO military exercises will begin in Romania and Bulgaria, led by Atlantic Resolve 23 and Defender Europe 23, and the muzzles of the weapons will be directed to the northeast towards the delta of the river. The Prut River, where she goes to light another fire. Both exercises will refuel via Alexandroupolis.

Officials such as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen, US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and others have recently visited Chisinau to highlight the EU’s support. and the USA in the western orientation of Moldova. The trip of the President of the Republic, Caterina Sakellaropoulou, to Chisinau for a three-day period from February 28 to March 2 is part of this context, where she will speak at the University of Chisinau and meet with representatives of the small Greek minority there. .