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Moldova has nothing to gain from neutrality; it only serves the geopolitical interests of the Russian Federation to keep us in their sphere of influence, declared political analyst Anatol Țăranu on a radio station’s program “Public Space.” According to the expert, the country’s proximity to NATO would mean modernizing the defense sector and moving out of Russia’s sphere of influence.
“Moldova’s neutrality is an illusion we lived with for many years, and this illusion was shattered when the war in Ukraine began, demonstrating that any stake in neutral status costs no more than the paper on which this clause is written. Unfortunately, we live in an area where military danger is present, and Moldova needs to redefine its policies regarding state security. Unfortunately, there has been no well-established debate in our society regarding our security, and perhaps, especially a debate about the purpose of what we call a neutral status.”
In turn, the Executive Director of the Information and Documentation Center on NATO in Moldova, Ion Tăbârță, stated in the same program that society is not sufficiently informed about NATO’s activities. All the narratives currently promoted are inherited from the Soviet era when the North Atlantic Alliance was the number one rival of the Soviet Union. Ion Tăbîrță emphasized that there are currently three approaches in our country regarding the North Atlantic Alliance.
“The first is the general one that has been until now, namely, neutrality, which implies that we should not invest in the army because we have neutrality that assures us, which, after the case of Ukraine, is clearly not the case. We have the approach of the authorities, which are imposed by the geopolitical context to start this modernization of the National Army, but still insist on neutrality, saying that there are not enough votes in Parliament to change the Constitution. However, our society needs to change its perception, to desire this NATO membership, but it is not clear how society can do it with so much misinformation. The third approach is emerging, in which it is said that if we need to protect our security, we must come under a security umbrella, which is NATO.”
It should be noted that Moldova’s relations with the North Atlantic Alliance became active with the signing of the Framework Document of the “Partnership for Peace” program in 1994. Over the years, allies have supported our country, including on the civilian dimension, without requiring it to renounce its neutral status.