Moldova, între neutralitate și război? NATO, despre trupele ruse din Transnistria, Cobasna și drone

NATO Deputy Secretary General discusses Moldova's security challenges, Russian threats, and NATO's support amid regional tensions.

Key Takeaways

Moldova's security is integral to European and Black Sea regional stability.
NATO actively supports Moldova with defense resources, training, and cyber defense projects.
Russian military activities, including drones and troops in Transnistria, pose significant threats.
NATO respects Moldova's neutrality and sovereignty, encouraging sovereign decision-making.
Investment in security and resilience is essential for peace in the region.

What the video covers

NATO emphasizes the interconnected security of Europe and Moldova's strategic importance in regional stability.
Moldova has contributed to NATO missions and shared valuable lessons on resilience against hybrid attacks.
NATO provides Moldova with significant defense capacity building, including equipment and training.
Support includes safe ammunition storage, cyber defense initiatives, and scientific cooperation.
Russian drone incursions into Moldovan airspace are a growing security concern, with NATO allies assisting in detection and response.
NATO condemns the illegal presence of Russian troops in Transnistria and supports Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity.
The risk of a catastrophic explosion at the Cobasna ammunition depot is considered lower than feared but remains a concern.
NATO stresses the importance of investing in security and supporting partners to maintain peace and stability.
Concerns about Moldova's neutrality and fears of being dragged into war are addressed, emphasizing respect for Moldova's sovereign decisions.
NATO's partnership with Moldova spans over 30 years, focusing on practical cooperation and political dialogue.

Chapters

Why is NATO involved in Moldova's security discussions?

NATO considers Moldova's security interconnected with European stability and supports Moldova through defense cooperation, training, and resilience-building against hybrid threats.

What is NATO's stance on Russian troops in Transnistria?

NATO condemns the illegal presence of Russian troops in Transnistria, supports Moldova's sovereignty and territorial integrity, and closely monitors the security situation.

How does NATO address concerns about Moldova's neutrality and fear of war?

NATO respects Moldova's sovereign decisions regarding neutrality and emphasizes that partnership does not influence foreign policy choices or drag Moldova into conflict.

Full Transcript — Download SRT & Markdown

Speaker A

Madame Redm Shakarinska, NATO Deputy Secretary General. This is your second visit to Moldova due to the Moldova Security Forum. This year's edition is focused on security in Europe and the Black Sea region, and also on democratic resilience. Why is it important for NATO to be part of this conversation in Kishinev, and what message are you bringing to us?

Speaker A

Well, thank you very much for this interview. We say at the Moldova Security Forum, when we talk about security in Europe, our securities are interconnected.

Speaker A

What happens in Moldova, close to our borders, your neighbor, does affect our security, and our partnership has been going on for 30 years.

Speaker A

We see this really as a two-way street. There are certain things that we can do to enhance your security, but we are also profiting from your contributions. Moldova has for several years participated in our mission in Kosovo, K4, providing for the security and stability not only of Kosovo but of the wider Western Balkan region.

Speaker A

You have also been helping us with some of your lessons on how to build up resilience, how to deal with Russian hybrid attacks, and this is an investment in our partnership but also as an alliance that has worked on the security of Europe for so many decades. We are also here to provide advice and practical cooperation.

Speaker A

This practical cooperation has really developed in time. So when Moldova wants to really deepen this partnership, we are all for it. We want to see our political dialogue widen. We want to see the practical cooperation, the things we can help you with, also grow stronger.

Speaker A

This is what has been happening, especially in the last few years. Of all the partners that we support with our so-called defense capacity building package, Moldova gets the biggest part of this package. Practically, more than 50 million euros are already in the pipeline, and they support Moldova with very concrete things.

Speaker A

Body armor and helmets for Moldovan armed forces, not only for the whole composition but also to have some in reserves. We have supported safe storage of ammunition, which is very important for citizens because if you have ammunition and you don't store it with enough security, with enough safety precaution measures, it might end up with a catastrophe.

Speaker A

So providing NATO standards ammunition storage was another investment in Moldova's security. But it's also projects where we train, we advise on defense reforms, on building strong and resilient institutions, and even the partnership that we have in science. More than 120 Moldovan scientists participated in Science for Peace, NATO's project, and they have been working on research projects in the area of CBRN protection, cyber defense.

Speaker A

We have been working on crisis management procedures. So all these things are, we believe, very important, and a certain domain in which we were also focused matters to Moldova. This is cyber. So we have supported the creation of a team within the Technical University of Moldova, but also a small group within the Moldovan defense ministry.

Speaker A

So it's all these things that contribute to a stronger partnership between the two of us. Here in Moldova, we are facing high security risks. We see almost daily Russian drones that are falling and violating our territory. Can NATO help Moldova protect and defend its airspace?

Speaker A

Air threats are on the rise. We see and have witnessed the incursions of drones and missiles into Moldovan airspace. We consider it dangerous. We consider it reckless, and we consider this as yet another proof of Russia's reckless and dangerous behavior not only in Ukraine but also towards practically all of their neighbors.

Speaker A

We have seen, and practically this is strong support coming from NATO allies to Moldova. For example, Romania has been at the forefront of this in sharing the air picture, so sharing the awareness of the threats in your airspace, but also the support in detecting and reacting when UAVs, when unmanned aircraft vehicles enter your space.

Speaker A

And of course, the European Union has been also very supportive to Moldova in the procurement of air radars, which are an essential part of all this system. So this is a domain where we all say that we need to do more. Another security threat for Moldova is the presence of Russian troops that are stationed illegally in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova. Has Russia's full-scale war against Ukraine changed NATO's assessment of the security risk coming from Transnistria?

Speaker A

We have been very clear about this since the beginning. We respect Moldova's sovereignty. We respect your territorial integrity within internationally recognized borders. And this is why we have always criticized Russia's troops who are in Transnistria without Moldova's acceptance of this, without Moldova's agreement.

Speaker A

We see this as almost a pattern in which Russia actually doesn't respect the sovereignty of other countries. But we have been very clear we are not involved in the solution or in the diplomatic engagements with regards to Transnistria, but all allies are very closely following it, and whenever the security environment changes around us for the worse, especially with the war in Ukraine, of course the security challenges become even more prominent.

Speaker A

But we will continue to support Moldova's sovereign rights. We will continue to support your territorial integrity along the internationally recognized border, and we see this as the only real, really responsible approach in dealing with our partners. A recent joint assessment by Moldova's intelligence and security service concluded that the risk of a catastrophic uncontrolled explosion at Cobasna was exaggerated actually, although the risk remains. From NATO's perspective, what is the actual security significance of Cobasna today, and is the greater concern the ammunition itself or the presence of a military truce around it?

Speaker A

I think that the challenges, all the challenges of this kind, affect our security constantly, and what we have focused on is saying that our security needs to be safeguarded and protected.

Speaker A

This is why we say we need to invest in our security. When we invest in our security, we also support partners and their security. And this is a partnership that should bring a more secure environment and better defense of our territory, better defense for our partners.

Speaker A

What we have learned, especially after the war in Ukraine, is that peace requires investments, and peace requires from all of us to be stronger and to invest in our security. This has been a decision made by all 32 allies in the past, and we are very much focused on this right now.

Speaker A

Within this investment, we consider supporting partners also as important for our security, and we will continue to do so. Madame Deputy Secretary General, a significant part of Moldovan society remains suspicious of NATO, and one of the arguments we often hear is that we are a neutral country, and a stronger collaboration with NATO could drag us into a war. Of course, this may be the result of Russian propaganda because we see a whole different situation in Romania where the support for NATO is over 80%. But still, what would you say to people that have this fear?

Speaker A

You know, we respect you. We respect our partners. We respect Moldova, and we respect your sovereign choices. The decisions on where you go, decisions where your foreign policy goes, are yours to make, and no one within NATO, within allies, will influence them.

Speaker A

So we believe that partnership should be based on this premise that Moldova is a sovereign country and it makes decisions based on that sovereignty. So I was very clear today at the security forum that we respect a...

Speaker A

involved in the uh in the solution or in the diplomatic engagements with regards to the transnistria but all allies are very closely following it and whenever the security environment changes around us for the worse especially with the war

Speaker A

in Ukraine of course the security challenges become even more prominent uh but um we will continue to support uh Muldova sovereign rights We will continue to support your territorial integrity along the internationally recognized border and we see this as the

Speaker A

only real really responsible approach in dealing with uh with our partners. A recent joint assessment by Modova's uh intelligence and security uh service concluded that the risk of a catastrophic uncontrolled explosion at uh Kobasta was exaggerated actually uh

Speaker A

although the risk remains uh from NATO's perspective what is the actual security significance of Kobasna today and is the greater concern the ammunition itself or the presence of a military truce around it.

Speaker A

I I think that the challenges uh are all the challenges of this kind affect our security constantly and what we have focused on in saying that our security needs to be safeguarded and protected.

Speaker A

This is why we say we need to invest in our security. When we invest in our security, we also support partners and their security. And this is a partnership that uh should bring uh a more secure environment and better

Speaker A

defense of our territory, better defense for our our partners. But uh and what we have learned especially after the the war in Ukraine is that peace requires investments and peace requires from all of us to be stronger and to invest in

Speaker A

our security. This has been a decision made by all 32 allies in the past and we are very much focused on this right now.

Speaker A

Within this investment, we consider supporting partners also as important for our security and we will continue to do so. Uh Madame Deputy Secretary General, a significant part of Muldova society um remains suspicious of NATO and one of the arguments we often hear

Speaker A

is that we are neutral country and a stronger collaboration with NATO could drag us into a war. Of course, this may be the result of Russian propaganda because we see a whole different situation in Romania where the support

Speaker A

for NATO is over 80%. But still, uh, what would you say to people that have this fear?

Speaker A

You know, we respect you. We respect our partners. We respect Muldova and we respect your sovereign choices. The decisions on where you go, decisions where you your foreign policy goes are yours to make and no one within NATO within allies will influence them.

Speaker A

So we believe that partnership should be based on this premises that Muldova is a sovereign country and it makes decisions based on that sovereignity. Uh so I was very clear today at the security forum that we respect also your policy of

Speaker A

military neutrality. That's your decision to make but we have been developing our partnerships as a result of Muldova decision already for three decades and I think that if you analyze these projects in the amount of 50 million euros you will see that they're

Speaker A

not for the benefit of one ally or just NATO. they are in the benefit of Moldovven citizens who wants to live who want to live in peace and to want to have this this security. Uh I come from

Speaker A

a country that had a very similar uh independence path like Muldova more or less the same size. I come from North Macedonia. So in a way I have walked in your shoes and although we have had different sovereign choices

Speaker A

since the beginning of our independence we said we want to join NATO, we want to join the EU. I remember how important it was for us to be respected, appreciated and taken as a sovereign nation. So it it matters a lot. So uh we had to fight

Speaker A

to convince the NATO alliance to accept us as a member and we struggled with this for a while. Uh but it was our choice to make. We respect our partners by respecting their sovereign choices.

Speaker A

And this is why uh this narrative cannot work because people understand that the partnership that is beneficial to Muldovven citizens is uh a partnership that is good for Muldova.

Speaker A

That's a good lesson for Moldova. Thank you so much. Thank you. [music]

Topics:MoldovaNATOTransnistriaRussian troopsCobasnadefense cooperationsecurityBlack Sea regionhybrid attacksneutrality

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