Politics

PRESIDENT DODON PROPOSES NATO TO SIGN DOCUMENT ON RECOGNITION OF MOLDOVA'S NEUTRALITY

11 december, 2017

Moldovan President Igor Dodon has proposed NATO to sign a political document on recognition of the status of permanent neutrality of the Republic of Moldova. He formulated this offer in his meeting with NATO Deputy Secretary General Rose Gottemoeller, who had come to Chisinau to take part in the opening of a NATO Liaison Office held on Friday.

Dodon wrote on his Facebook page afterwards that he had reminded of a number of oral statements made by the NATO leadership - that this military-political bloc treats with respect "the constitutional status of the permanent neutrality of the Republic of Moldova", as he wrote.

"I proposed to fix those oral statements in an agreed-on political document. In this context, we agreed to shortly hold consultations on the level of experts on this topic. Our principal stance is as follows: Moldova in its relations with NATO as well as with the ODKB [Russia-led Organization of the Collective Security Treaty] must proceed exclusively from its neutral status", wrote Dodon.

The President drew attention to "the hastiness of opening the NATO Liaison Office, which may have very serious negative consequences".

"In particular, this circumstance may considerably complicate our Transnistrian conflict settlement efforts. The Government and parliamentary majority should primarily make efforts to minimize the domestic political confrontation, instead of creating extra strains in the Moldovan society", wrote the head of state.

In his words, the opening of the NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau is in disharmony with the spirit of the parliamentary Resolution of March 31, 2016 "On Approving the Declaration of the Parliament of Moldova on the Principle of Inviolability of the Sovereignty, Independence and Permanent Neutrality of the Republic of Moldova".

Igor Dodon and Rose Gottemoeller also exchanged opinions on the situation in the region and on the interaction between Moldova and NATO.

"I outlined our approaches to building our relationship with NATO namely: observance of the principle of inviolability of the internationally recognized borders of the Republic of Moldova; respect for the constitutional status of Moldova's permanent neutrality; respect for the sides' interests within the dialog; and that Moldova's participation in international peacekeeping operations must be held under the United Nations' auspices", wrote the President.

Igor Dodon informed Rose Gottemoeller about his intention to hold - in the first half of 2018 under the presidential auspices - an international conference on "Moldova's permanent neutrality as a factor of stability and development, or a new challenge to East-West relations". He invited NATO officials to come and take part in the forum.

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