Moldova plans to gradually increase its defense budget so that allocations reach 1% of GDP by 2030. Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii made the statement in October, when the Government approved the country’s new 10-year military strategy. Defense experts argue that this level of funding remains extremely low. For comparison, Romania — a NATO member — has committed to significantly raising its defense spending to 5% of GDP by 2035. This includes 3.5% for core military expenditures and an additional 1.5% for related investments, such as strengthening the presence of allied NATO forces and developing national space-security capabilities, a first in Romania’s military history. Against this backdrop, the question arises: what lessons can Moldova, a country with declared neutrality, draw from such models?
Moldova’s military strategy outlines 18 priority action areas focused on technological modernization, strengthening defense capabilities, and aligning the national security sector with European and international standards.
“The document marks a significant paradigm shift from the previous strategy adopted in 2018, which expired in 2022. It explicitly recognizes that the security environment has fundamentally deteriorated because of the Russian Federation’s aggression against Ukraine and the rise of hybrid threats in the region. For the first time, the strategy openly addresses the need to strengthen national resilience and effective defense capabilities, including through the involvement of ordinary citizens. It reaffirms the country’s constitutional neutrality but interprets it pragmatically, emphasizing that neutrality does not prevent the strengthening of defense or cooperation with democratic states to ensure national security. The strategy introduces the concept of total defense, which relies on societal involvement and coordinated action between civilian and military institutions during crises. This approach demonstrates a mature understanding that defense is no longer exclusively the military’s responsibility but a collective obligation shared by public administration, the economic sector, and citizens,” Watchdog.md expert Artur Lescu highlighted.
Despite these important conceptual developments, one major problem persists—the extremely low level of defense funding.
Artur Lescu emphasized, “Allocating 1% of GDP cannot cover the costs of equipping the military with modern systems, training personnel, and maintaining readiness to face contemporary threats. NATO member countries with much higher GDPs already dedicate at least 2% of GDP to defense and aim to increase it to 5%. Our starting point is far lower, so reaching the 1% threshold alone cannot suffice. To close technological and operational gaps compared to better-equipped states, we must spend above the current levels of some allies. It’s simple elementary math. Without this financial ambition, the strategy risks remaining a theoretical roadmap rather than a viable program to strengthen national defense.”
According to the State Budget Law for 2025, the Ministry of Defense receives approximately 1.9 billion lei, which represents 0.65% of GDP. The Ministry directs these resources primarily toward maintaining military personnel, modernizing equipment, and participating in international security programs, including cooperation with NATO through the Partnership for Peace. Until 2023, the Republic of Moldova allocated an even smaller budget for defense, ranging between 0.5 and 0.9 billion lei. In 2023, the defense budget reached 1.7 billion lei and increased to 1.96 billion lei in 2024.
Neutral does not mean defenseless
Around the world, approximately 20 countries declare themselves neutral, including 11 in Europe: the five microstates (the Vatican, Liechtenstein, Andorra, Monaco, and San Marino), as well as Austria, Ireland, Malta, Moldova, Serbia, and Switzerland. Most of these countries invest heavily in their armed forces and defense industry.
Switzerland maintains a strong military tradition: its manufacturers, such as SIG Sauer (founded in 1859), supply weapons to the armed forces of dozens of countries. The company Mowag produces modern armored vehicles. The country also maintains nearly 400,000 underground shelters—enough for the entire population—each one standardized and officially registered. Switzerland imposes mandatory military service for men, with basic training lasting 18–21 weeks followed by specialized training. Those who refuse perform one year of civil service, while those who are physically unfit pay a special defense tax (3% of income for 11 years). As a result, with a population of 9 million, the country maintains over 100,000 active military personnel, mostly conscripts and volunteers, commanded by a small body of professional officers. In 2023, Switzerland allocated approximately 0.7% of its GDP for defense, amounting to around 6.2 billion dollars, while its GDP exceeded 884.94 billion dollars.
Austria maintains a similar system, with six months of mandatory military service and an army of about 100,000 people, along with a well-known arms industry that produces Steyr AUG rifles and Glock pistols. In 2023, Austria spent 0.84% of its GDP on defense, amounting to about $4.4 billion.
Ireland allocated approximately $1.2 billion to defense in 2023, representing 0.22% of its GDP.
Serbia allocated approximately 2.85% of its GDP to defense spending in 2023, amounting to around $2.1 billion.
“Although neither Austria nor Switzerland faces any direct threats, both maintain their combat readiness, aware that maintaining defense capabilities is easier than rebuilding them,” concludes an analysis by Polish journalist Milosz Szymanski.
When asked how the low defense budget affects Moldova’s ability to protect its territory, Vitalie Marinuta, Minister of Defense from 2009 to 2014, explained: “The state allocates one of the lowest budgets in the world to this area, and if we compare it to the level of threats that have persisted throughout these years in the field of security and defense, then this budget is truly miserable. Over the years, we have deteriorated the weapons and equipment left over from the Soviet Union. Only the human capabilities of our military and partnerships, especially with NATO within the Partnership for Peace, have allowed us to develop our sector. In 2011–2012, experts conducted a strategic defense analysis, which showed that if we maintain less than 1% of GDP for defense over the next 3–4 years, the combat capability of the National Army will fall to zero. Unfortunately, after this analysis, we maintained this budget for another decade.”
We recall that Finland and Sweden recently renounced their neutrality, joining NATO on April 4, 2023, and March 7, 2024, respectively, in response to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. Renouncing neutrality did not come easily to the Swedes. Until 2021, only a third of citizens supported NATO membership—roughly the same level of support the idea has today in the Republic of Moldova. However, the war radically changed the situation. At that point, the Swedes—like the Finns—understood that they could no longer take peace and the inviolability of borders in Europe for granted.