President Maia Sandu said that in the context of the war in Ukraine, a “serious discussion” is taking place in Chisinau about the possibility of abandoning the neutrality enshrined in the Constitution and joining a “broader military alliance”, according to an interview with Politico. , quoted by News.ro. The head of the Moldovan state refrains from naming the specific military alliance, but the publication has a headline with a question mark: “Has the time for NATO membership come?”

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine forces neighboring Moldova to think about the need for the country to depart from the neutrality enshrined in the Constitution and guarantee its security in the “larger alliance”. Asked about possible NATO accession, Moldovan President Maia Sandu said in an interview with POLITICO in Davos that her country is still analyzing what the next step should be and whether constitutional amendments will be needed.

“There is now a serious debate (…) about our ability to defend ourselves, whether we can do it alone or whether we should be part of a larger alliance,” said Maja Sandu. “And if at some point we as a nation come to the conclusion that we need to change neutrality, it should happen through a democratic process,” added the President of the Republic of Moldova.

In her response, Maja Sandu took care not to mention NATO by name, POLITICO notes. For Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is already trying to destabilize the pro-European government of Moldova, the name NATO sounds like a real anathema, and Russia warns of increased military cooperation between Chisinau and its Western allies. Although Moldova is not a member of NATO, it cooperates with the organization and contributes to the NATO-led peacekeeping force in Kosovo, the Brussels-based publication explains.

Maja Sandu, along with other leaders, met with NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in New York during the UN General Assembly last September. The Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Moldova, Niku Popescu, took part in the December NATO meeting in Bucharest – it was the first time that the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Moldova attended a NATO ministerial meeting. At this meeting, the Allies reaffirmed their support for the Republic of Moldova, including by providing training for the Moldovan defense forces. In addition, Romania, a neighbor of Moldova and a member of NATO, is particularly keen to intensify military cooperation, writes POLITICO.

What are the risks or obstacles to the accession of the Republic of Moldova to NATO

The most obvious obstacle to the integration of the Republic of Moldova is the fact that the Russian military has bases inside the country, in the separatist region of Transnistria, the publication further explains. However, the military calculation is becoming increasingly relevant, POLITICO notes. Moldova was dangerously close to the conflict that started almost a year ago. Only last week, the remains of missiles were found again in the north of the country. Attacks on energy infrastructure in Ukraine also left Moldova without electricity.

Moldova, as POLITICO shows, must play a delicate dance: on the one hand, to remain true to its pro-Western and pro-European trajectory, on the other hand, not to escalate relations with Russia to the point that Moscow could use military force. power.

Russia has repeatedly warned the Republic of Moldova about military cooperation with the West, believing that the former Soviet state is in its sphere of influence.

However, Maia Sandu rejects any interpretation that Moldova’s actions to strengthen its defenses – whether by increasing its own military power or by establishing closer relations with other allies – are provocative, saying that Russia, not Ukraine or Moldova, is the aggressor. .

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“Moldova is a peaceful country. It was not Moldova that started a war against its neighbors,” she said in an interview with POLITICO. “Russian propaganda managed to convince a part of the population that neutrality means that you do not need to invest in your defense sector, that neutrality means that you do nothing and have no opportunity to defend yourself, and this is wrong,” the president said. from Chisinau.

Maya Sandu, a former World Bank official, was elected in 2020 on an anti-corruption platform. In June, the country will host the second meeting of the European Political Community, a European-level forum of EU and non-EU countries, the first summit of which was held in Prague last year. Moldova, which under the leadership of the pro-Western government of Maia Sandu, promised to join the EU, received the status of a candidate country in June. Although accession negotiations are ongoing, the prospect of accession is still several years away. However, after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the EU increased its support for the country, providing Moldova with hundreds of millions of euros in loans and grants. And to ease Moldova’s dependence on Russian gas, last year the country’s electricity grid was synchronized with the EU grid – a new important step in the direction of the West, POLITICO notes.

Overall, Maya Sandu says her country remains very “vulnerable” and susceptible to Russian hybrid warfare through propaganda and disinformation. But at the moment, they do not face a military threat. Reason? Courage and resilience of Ukrainians. “Thanks to the courage and resilience of Ukrainians, we still have no military threats,” she says. “We face a number of risks, but none of them compares to the situation in Ukraine, as well as the price paid by Ukrainians,” the President of the Republic of Moldova emphasized.