Politics

PREMIER FILIP SEES OFF NEW MOLDOVAN CONTINGENT TO KOSOVO

05 december, 2017

Moldovan Prime Minister Pavel Filip today took part in the ceremony of seeing off the country’s 8th contingent of 41 military peacekeepers to the Serbian province of Kosovo. He stated that the peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, conducted under the NATO guidance and according to the United Nations Resolution, “is a bright example of how the world community finds peaceful methods of resolving crisis-like situations on the European continent”.

According to him, the neutral status of Moldova is widely known in the world.

“But with all this, the shaping of the professionalism of the Moldovan military has become possible in the present-day conditions only thanks to our partnership with the North Atlantic Alliance and its structures. We are grateful to NATO also for its assistance we receive to the reform of our defense sector to make the republic capable of opposing to the threats and challenges to our national security”, the Premier said and expressed a special gratitude to the governments of Italy and the United States for their multifaceted and considerable assistance to the Moldovan army reform.

The Ambassador Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary of Italy to Moldova, Valeria Biagiotti, said that she was attending a second such farewell ceremony and that she was infinitely happy.

“The Italian military, with whom the Moldovan peacekeepers will be serving together, perceive them exclusively favorably. The Moldovan peacekeepers’ participation in the international peacekeeping operation is a part of the work to strengthen the Republic of Moldova’s image in the world”, stated the Italian Ambassador.

Minister of Defense Eugen Sturza offered an opinion that the presence of so many people at the farewell ceremony – diplomats, peacekeepers’ parents – “is an indication of the obvious fact that the operation is trusted by the public”.

“This is already the 8th Moldovan contingent leaving for a particularly important mission of peacekeeping in the uneasy region. The best out of the best are leaving – genuine professionals. Over recent years, more than 300 Moldovan officers have gone through ‘hot spots’ like Kosovo, Georgia, Ukraine, Iraq, Sudan, Tajikistan and other. We can say that Moldova has earned the well-deserved right to be included into the list of countries – the suppliers of security in the world”, stated Eugen Sturza.

Infotag’s dossier: Moldova’s first peacekeeping contingent, consisting of 33 infantrymen and 7 field engineers, went to Kosovo on March 8, 2014 to join a NATO peacekeeper operation, Multinational Battle Group West, under the United Nations’ auspices. They are based in northern Metohija province in Italy’s zone of responsibility.

The Moldovan Parliament approved the RM contingent’s participation in the peacekeeper operation on Kosovo at the end of 2013. The annual cost of the operation will be some 34 million lei. A greater part of this sum will be covered by Italy, so only one-third of the expenditures will be on the Moldovan State Budget.

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