President Maia Sandu said in an interview with France 24 that most Moldovans prefer to keep the country’s neutral status because, under the influence of Russian propaganda, they fear that any possible discussion about amending the Constitution will lead to military intervention by Moscow. in the Republic of Moldova, News.ro reports.

Maia Sandu says that now Ukraine is the one that ensures the security of the Republic of Moldova, and believes that when Kyiv wins the war, a favorable geopolitical situation may arise to resolve the Transnistrian conflict, which will also facilitate Chisinau’s accession to the EU.

“We have the neutrality stipulated by the Constitution, and the majority of Moldovans still believe that the Constitution does not need to be changed. We can discuss why most of these people want Moldova to remain neutral. I don’t want to believe that most of these people think that neutrality can protect us.

Russian propaganda plays a role here, because many Moldovans believe that the moment we start discussing changes to the Constitution, Russia can attack Moldova. Because this is one of the narratives that Russia used when it attacked Ukraine – that Russia has to defend itself because Ukraine wants to become a member of NATO, which is a lie,” said Maia Sandu when asked if Moldova could change its Constitution . , which involves neutrality in order to be able to join NATO.

“We are faced with the need to fight disinformation and Russian propaganda in Moldova, so in the meantime we are trying to ensure the safety of our people. But today we are safe, mainly thanks to the courage of the Ukrainian people. At the same time, we are investing in the protection system and trying to become better at fighting disinformation,” said Maja Sandu.

She also said that the Republic of Moldova has good cooperation with NATO, which began many years ago. “We appreciate this cooperation, which helps to strengthen our ability to defend Moldova,” said Maja Sandu.

Maja Sandu expresses her concern about the war in Ukraine, which risks continuing, but at the same time says that the neighboring country needs to be supported to get all its territories back. She believes that this is the only way to solve this war.

Transnistria – “There is always a risk”

When asked if there is a risk that Russia will attack the Republic of Moldova if the war continues, Maia Sandu replied: “Ukraine protects us, and we are very grateful to Ukrainian soldiers, brave Ukrainian people and Ukrainians. leadership. Meanwhile, of course, Russia is trying to threaten and undermine our efforts to remain part of the free world, strengthen institutions and move towards the EU.

And here we also want to express our gratitude for the support we receive from the democratic world to resist and become more resilient. And we’ve made some progress, for example, you know, Russia used to blackmail us with energy weapons. Today, we on the right bank of the Dniester, with the exception of Transnistria, do not consume Russian gas, while only 12 months ago we were 100% dependent,” the head of the Moldovan state explained.

Asked whether Russia could use its military in Transnistria for an attack that would cause even more destabilization or divert attention, Maja Sandu did not rule out the possibility. She emphasized that 1,200 soldiers are stationed in Transnistria illegally, but at the same time Chisinau has managed to maintain a stable situation. “Of course, there is always a risk as long as you have Russian troops on the ground and as long as you have weapons on the ground, because there is also a large stockpile of Soviet-era weapons, but so far we have managed. maintain a stable situation, and we hope that we can keep it stable,” said Maja Sandu.

When asked if she has guarantees from the West that in the event of a Russian invasion, the West will support Moldova, as it supported Ukraine, Maia Sandu reminded that Chisinau has received the support of the West since the first day of the war. “We began to seriously work on strengthening our defense capabilities, we did it including by increasing the internal budget, as well as by receiving significant funds as support from NATO member states and, in general, a new cooperation program with NATO,” she said.

The problem of Transnistria hinders the accession to the EU

On the other hand, Maia Sandu admits that the problem of Chisinau’s separatist conflict with Tiraspol is an obstacle to the country’s accession to the EU, although there were voices that spoke about the precedent of Cyprus. The President of the Republic of Moldova believes that Ukraine’s victory in the war with Russia will be a geopolitical opportunity to settle the situation and contribute to the country’s accession to the EU. By then, says Maia Sandu, the Republic of Moldova should complete all its reforms and be ready for accession.

“We said we should be ready to be part of the European Union by 2030, and we have a lot to do. We believe in a process based on merit, we do not demand shortcuts and, in addition, we also face some internal challenges, for example in the field of justice, strengthening the capacity of institutions that should prevent and fight corruption, all these are important issues. In addition to this, of course, there is the issue of the Transnistrian conflict, and our discussions with the EU have been that we should focus on reforms.

Of course, we should try to resolve the conflict, and in the best case we can become a member of the EU as a reintegrated state. But there is no discussion now, and if there is no resolution of the conflict, there is no possibility for integration into the EU. We believe that when Ukraine wins the war, a geopolitical situation may arise, an opportunity to resolve the conflict, but the condition is a peaceful resolution. And in the meantime, of course, we are working, we are preparing for this geopolitical opportunity,” Maya Sandou said in an interview with France 24, given in New York, where she is participating in the annual meeting of the UN General Assembly.

“At the European Council at the end of this year, we hope to see a positive decision to start accession negotiations, and then we will be ready to start the next steps again. There are many things that we need to do, we are already working on them, and there are others that will need to be started. But the sooner, the better,” she said.

Russia tried to send rapists to Moldova

Maya Sanda was also asked about the attempted coup involving the Kremlin, which she spoke about a few months ago, and whether she had any evidence of it. “Yes, we have seen various ways in which Russia wants to undermine our efforts. Energy blackmail, for example. When Russia saw that we managed to diversify and that we were no longer dependent on Russian gas, using their intermediaries in Moldova, some corrupt groups, Russia tried to overthrow our government. Fortunately, we were aware of this event and managed to warn the population not to participate in the violent protests that these groups were trying to organize,” Maya Sandu replied.

When asked whether Moscow tried to send Wagner-type mercenaries to Moldova, Maia Sandu noted that “cruel people” were discovered in time.

“At the beginning of the year, I spoke publicly about this, about trying to send more people to participate in violent protests – because Russia could not identify such people in Moldova when it paid for protests and wanted to turn these protests into violent protests and then force the constitutional bodies to enter into some negotiations on the transfer of power, so yes, Russia tried to send some violent people to Moldova, but the police and other agencies were vigilant enough to check all these people to make sure that we do not allow them to enter the country.” – said Maya Sandu.

Russian interference in elections

However, the President of the Republic of Moldova is now concerned that Russia may interfere in future election processes that will take place in her country.

“Now, of course, Russia goes further and tries to use other types of interference – mechanisms of disinformation, propaganda, of course, are very important – but also interference in elections, and in Moldova local elections this year, and presidential elections next year. . This year, we saw during the elections in one of the regions of Moldova (Gagausia – no), where dirty money managed to significantly influence the results of the elections, and this is the biggest concern now,” said Maia Sandu.

Sever diplomatic relations with Moscow?

After the expulsion of a large number of Russian diplomats from Moldova, as well as the head of Sputnik Moldova, the next step could be the severing of diplomatic relations with Russia, but such a measure is currently not under discussion, said Maia Sandu.

“We were forced to take these measures (no expulsion of diplomats) because the Kremlin does not respect our country’s independence and sovereignty, and we will continue to take measures if the Kremlin’s actions and rhetoric continue to undermine our plans. and the development path of Moldova. I’m not saying that now we’re discussing a break in relations, but I’m saying that we will do everything possible to protect our citizens and our country,” the head of the Moldovan state assured. (News.ro)