How Neutral Moldova Is Being Murdered

Why the West is abolishing Moldova’s neutral status by signing defense agreements with it - read the article by RTA expert Semyon ALBU

Semyon ALBU, RTA: The international situation is aggravating day by day. There is a feeling that either the world is being deliberately led to a reprise of the Caribbean crisis in order to justify the subsequent détente with mutual concessions. After all, this is the only way for everyone to retreat a little without losing face, given the maximally stirred atmosphere of confrontation. Or we are in a phase of uncontrolled escalation, there is no “cunning plan”, and the former rules of decency among the great powers are deliberately violated in an attempt to test each for strength and “gut”. And then, of course, no one will think of stopping until the very end. The second option seems more plausible. We have already reached the point where two nuclear powers, Russia and France, are conducting more than demonstrative exercises to practice the use of nuclear weapons. And no one has the slightest doubt who they are directed against. We have already reached the point where the US is approaching a decision to allow Ukraine to hit internationally recognized Russian territory with US weapons. This is, by the way, Moscow’s officially stressed “red line”. But it is deliberately being crossed to test Russia’s resolve. We have reached the point where certain Western leaders do not hesitate to admit the presence of instructors in Ukraine, which was previously carefully concealed, and are still discussing troop deployment. We got to the point where... well, you get the point. This list could go on for a long time. Storms of geopolitical confrontation are raging more and more strongly, even big ships are shaking and twisting in them, and small ships, caught in them, risk to wreck in a flash. What captain in such a situation would risk taking his ship into the epicenter of the storm? As it turned out, there are such fools and, unfortunately, in our country. While some states are trying their best to stay out of the conflict zone, our authorities are trying their best to push Moldova out of “neutral waters”. I and my colleagues have already written about militarization many times, I have no intention to repeat myself. Everyone knows how the military budget has grown in recent years, how much money is allocated to our defense industry by Western donors, how often we receive shipments of equipment and weapons from indifferent partners. Our military conducts joint exercises with the NATO so often that nowadays, usually when one ends, another begins at the same moment. Military equipment caravans on Moldovan roads, paratroopers practicing parachute jumps... Militaristic dream. Even the things I have mentioned do not fit into the constitutional neutrality at all, but PAS does not hesitate to neglect the basic law even more by signing defense and security agreements with Western countries and organizations. Let’s recall the similar one concluded in Paris, due to which we were approved to have a permanent French military mission. And in mid-May, the Financial Times provided an insider dealing that Moldova and the European Union would soon agree to enhance security cooperation to an “unprecedented level”. And such an agreement was indeed signed this week by Prime Minister Recean. An interesting fact is that we are the first to have such an agreement with the EU. Indeed, with whom else could it be concluded but with neutral Moldova? The document, by the way, is curious. It talks about countering cyberattacks, hybrid threats, disinformation and extremism. Can you imagine the potential for further tightening of the screws? But now we are interested in other points. So, it is stated that together we “will continue to develop and strengthen Moldova’s military forces and capabilities, including with a view to consolidating participation in EU military missions and operations”. It is explained that this implies country’s participation in the rapid deployment mechanism, in EU military exercises, military procurement programmes. We will also strengthen cooperation within the European Peace Facility, increase the operational efficiency of the National Army, implement Western standards, etc. What is this agreement in fact? A purely unconstitutional piece of paper that not only violates the neutral status, but simply treats it like muck. Recean should have been put on trial for this as soon as he returned from Brussels. However, when has compliance with the basic law ever been a concern for the ruling regime? Government has already learnt how to bypass legal procedures to exploit it as it pleases. Of course, people may object or ask questions - why does the West even need Moldova, which is so far insignificant in terms of military capabilities, all this is just for show, etc. And now I propose to look at our former colleague in the Associated Trio - does anyone else remember such an association? - Georgia, in and around which extremely interesting events are taking place. Everyone has probably heard by now what passions run high there about the foreign agents law. In fact, the Georgian authorities are trying to cut off the possibility for anyone to influence the politics of their country through a network of powerful NGOs. The West is reacting so harshly to this that it simply goes beyond all etiquette and permissible limits. Tbilisi is under tremendous undisguised pressure: its authorities are being promised personal sanctions, while Georgia itself is being denied visa-free travel and EU candidate status, as well as a freeze on funding. The country is swept by externally instigated mass protests with an attempt to launch a Maidan scenario - something that representatives of the Georgian leadership are openly talking about. Non-interference in the internal affairs of other states, you say? Here’s the “rule-based world” in all its glory. It went so far that one of the European Commissioners threatened the Georgian Prime Minister with the fate of Robert Fico, who was recently wounded for his “wrong” policy. It would seem that why should official Tbilisi clash with the West, to which it has been loyal for many years, and disrupt the much-desired European integration? The explanation for this was again given by the head of the government Irakli Kobakhidze. According to him, back in 2022 the West wanted Georgians to open a new front against Russia by unfreezing the conflicts with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, and still wants it. They say that there is a global war party that does not care about the interests of Georgia and its only goal is to weaken Russia by any means. Frankly speaking, Georgians are lucky to have such a pro-state leadership at the helm now, which is not going to drag their homeland into conflict s with devastating consequences for Western interests and bonuses. And since the beginning of the war it behaves as carefully and balanced as possible, even trying to use this new crazy reality for its own good. Maybe that is why Georgia’s GDP grew by 7% last year and Moldova’s by 0.7%? Kobakhidze’s arguments seem quite reasonable to me personally, and they are supported both by the actions that the West is taking on the perimeter of the Russian Federation and its extremely nervous reaction to the Georgian law on foreign agents. And against this background, it is very alarming for our republic, whose leadership, coming from the very Western NGOs, does not care about the interests of the country at all and selflessly leads it out of the “storm’s eye” to the periphery, where the strongest winds rage. And it does this by signing agreements that do not guarantee Moldova any security at all, but abolish its neutrality and turn it into another target for Moscow. In fact, just today the head of the Federal Security Service Bortnikov has said that “NATO is dragging Moldova into a military confrontation with Russia and Belarus”, and our authorities have lost their political independence. As a result, what do we trade our neutral status, which has so far saved us from the risks of military threats, for? And neutrality itself may soon be extinguished not only de facto, but also de jure: as they say, the UK will seek the cancellation of the non-aligned status of European countries like Austria and Switzerland. Because these are the times, you can’t sit back, you have to go into conflict with Russia. The British, who offered Ukraine “just to fight”, have already “melted” it in the fire of war. New “wood” is needed, and something tells me that the first wood will be Moldova.