Motpan on Neutrality: NATO Ensures the Security of the Whole of Europe

The status of neutrality does not guarantee the security of the Republic of Moldova while NATO is a stabilizing factor. This opinion was expressed by representative of the DA Platform party Chiril Motspan according to whom the accession to NATO will provide Moldova with a security umbrella, reports ipn.md. On the other hand, representative of the Civic Congress Party Iurie Muntean says that maintaining Moldova’s neutrality should represent the main priority of the authorities, given that most citizens do not want to join any military alliance. “NATO is a military alliance that ensures the security for the whole of Europe, and for Moldova it would represent a stabilizing factor,” Chiril Muntean believes. According to the politician, the status of neutrality does not ensure the security of the country, especially with the Russian army’s presence on the left bank of the Dniester. “The Republic of Moldova being in this geopolitical context is suffering. The notion of neutrality clearly cannot protect us from the possibility of military action, as demonstrated by the missiles that flew over our airspace, whose debris caused fear in the population. NATO would be a stabilizing element and has demonstrated this in the European space. A foreign army, the army of an aggressor state, is stationed on Moldovan territory. In 1994, this term neutrality was introduced in the Constitution, but even to this day it has not helped us to get rid of the foreign army from our territory,” Chiril Motspan said on the air of La 360 de grade on Radio Moldova. On the other hand, the representative of the Civic Congress Party, Iurie Muntean, noted that in Moldova sovereignty belongs to the people, and according to sociological surveys, citizens want to maintain the status of neutrality. However, according to the politician, this statute does not exclude investments in strengthening defense capabilities. “All reliable polls prove that if before the war the status of neutrality was supported by 40% of citizens, after the events in Ukraine the share of neutrality supporters increased to 55%. The authorities or political elites, when discussing this topic, should not forget for a moment the provisions of the Constitution and the people’s views. We must preserve this status, because it also represents a source of socio-economic development. But this does not mean that we should not modernize the army, for the army is not only used in war. This does not mean that we should not invest in the army and improve it, but we must not give up our neutrality status. Switzerland and Austria, do they intend to change their status? On the contrary, they are strengthening it,” Iurie Muntean explained. According to the Constitution, Moldova is a neutral state. Amendments to the Supreme Law can be made in Parliament by the votes of at least 2/3 of MPs. Recently, in an interview with the Politico newspaper, President Maia Sandu stressed that discussions are underway as to whether Moldova is capable of defending itself, or whether it should join the military alliance.