Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, right, meets with Moldova's President Vladimir Voronin in Bocharov Ruchei residency in Sochi, Russia, August 25, 2008.
Photo: Alexander Miridonov
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Moldova Won’t Join NATO, President Vowed
Moldova doesn’t intend to join NATO, Moldova’s President Vladimir Voronin announced in the interview with Echo of Moscow radio station. The constitution spells out the status of permanent neutrality that bans from entering any defensive military alliances, the president explained.
At the same time, Voronin rejected the allegations whereby Russia agreed to yield Transdniestria for Moldova’s promise not to seek NATO’s membership. Changing the neutral status of Moldova is considered neither inside the republic nor outside it - in relations with the European nations and with NATO itself.
The polls show that no more than 17 percent or 18 percent of respondents in Moldova are for joining the NATO. Unification with Transdniestria will strengthen neutrality, as the latter would hardly vote for NATO’s membership, Voronin pointed out.
But the NATO leadership, Voronin went on, doesn’t view Moldova’s unwillingness to enter the alliance as an obstacle to its integration into the EU. In addition to Moldova’s non-participation in any military organizations, another sign of the county’s neutrality is the absence of foreign military bases on its soil, the president specified.
Meanwhile, Transdniestria’s authorities flatly refuse even to consider the chance of entering into Moldova. The Coordination Council of Public Associations and Political Parties of Transdniestria has blamed on Moldova the non-conformity of its actual policy with the neutrality statements of Voronin. Moldova and NATO signed the Individual Partnership Action Plan in 2006 and NATO negotiates stationing the U.S. missile defense facilities in Moldova, people in the Coordination Council claim.
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