Moldovan Prime Minister: We Should Explain the Importance of NATO to Our Population

Prime Minister Dorin Recean believes that the authorities should explain the importance of NATO to citizens for ensuring security. Recean said it on 13 September on the air of the Secretele Puterii programme on JurnalTV. According to the Moldovan prime minister, he would like the Moldovan army to be equipped with all NATO standards. “In fact, it is what we are doing. We are increasing investments in the army, we are increasing the amount of investments coming from NATO countries and the Alliance itself, through European security mechanisms. And we will stick to this course,” Recean claimed. He noted that it is important to explain to citizens what NATO means. “The population does not know what NATO means. We need these discussions, we need to explain what collective security is, to explain the meaning of security, to understand which countries can afford the necessary investments in security and which cannot,” Recean said. Recently, Moldovan President Maia Sandu has said on TV that it is necessary to discuss the reasons why citizens still believe that Moldova should remain neutral. “I don’t think people still believe that we are protected by maintaining the neutral status. I recall that Russia has been violating our neutrality for a long time by stationing its troops on our territory against the people’s wishes. I think they are afraid, some people under the influence of Russian propaganda think that when they start discussing NATO membership, then the risk of aggression from Russia will increase,” Sandu said. According to the latest public opinion poll conducted in August among 1,215 citizens, 54% of respondents are against Moldova’s accession to NATO, while 26.5% are in favor. We shall remind you that this year Moldova received the first batch of equipment provided by the European Peace Foundation (EPF) for the Moldovan military, as well as military aid from the USA.