PRESIDENT DODON CONDEMNS GOVERNMENT'S STRIVING FOR NATO

The incumbent Government's striving for bringing Moldova closer to NATO is illegitimate because this contradicts to the Main Law of the constitutionally neutral republic, maintains its President Igor Dodon.

He pointed out in his commentary to the prominent nation-wide Izvestia newspaper of Russia that after the February 24 parliamentary election, all the agreements and other documents aimed at Moldova's integration with the North Atlantic Alliance "shall be subjected to re-consideration and annulment".

"Militarily, NATO cannot enter Moldova because this would be contrary to our Constitution. But the incumbent Government of Moldova undertakes various attempts to deepen cooperation with NATO. I stand categorically against all initiatives of such kind. We must further strengthen our neutrality status. The agreement concluded with Romania and other accords on collaboration in the defense field go contrary to our Main Law and therefore are subject to annulment after the elections", said the President.

Vladimir Jabarov, the First Deputy Chairman of the Council of the Federation's Standing Committee for International Affairs, said that the NATO leaders, under the pretext of the "policy of open doors" (the Alliance's main principle fixed in Article 10 of the North Atlantic Treaty) "are using all possible methods to drag as many former Soviet territories into NATO as only possible".

"By now, NATO has already included three former Soviet Baltic republics [Lithuania, Latvia and Estonia]. Brussels actively cooperates with Georgia and Ukraine. And NATO's approximation with Moldova is in the interests of not only Western countries but also of Romania. To receive Moldova would be a real present for Romania. Bucharest is not concealing its interestedness in unification with the Republic of Moldova. Upon the whole, NATO is thus trying to get closer to Russian borders and to create a 'sanitary cordon' of such countries. The North Atlantic Alliance is interested to unfold its new military bases and armaments in such new territories so that to build up pressure on Russia", said the Russian senator.