NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said that cooperation between NATO and Moldova is “strong” and increasingly focused on cyber defence, counter-cyber capabilities, and broader regional coordination involving Ukraine and European allies. He made the remarks during a press conference ahead of the Meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Brussels.
Rutte emphasized that Moldova is closely integrated into NATO-related security cooperation frameworks, particularly in areas such as cyber resilience and hybrid threats.
“There is really a strong cooperation between NATO and Moldova. For example, when it comes to cyber and counter-cyber techniques and initiatives, the President, Maia Sandu and myself, we are in regular contact,” Rutte said.
He added that cooperation extends beyond NATO–Moldova relations and includes coordination with Ukraine as well as individual Allied states.
“But also, more broadly, we are really working together, not only as NATO and Moldova, but also Moldova with Ukraine, Moldova with individual allies,” he said.
Rutte noted that the aim of such cooperation is to strengthen resilience and security, while maintaining operational discretion.
“Obviously, we don’t want to make our adversaries too much informed on what we exactly are doing,” he said.
Despite this, he stressed that engagement between NATO, the European Union, and Moldova remains strong and ongoing across multiple areas of security policy.
“But I can assure you that there is a strong cooperation with the EU, of course, when you look at Moldova, but also when it comes to NATO on all these issues,” Rutte added.