Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi explained on Wednesday 15 July that his country wants to become more integrated into European defence.
While noting that his country was neutral and that “military cooperation is a sensitive topic”, the minister told MEPs in European Parliament’s Committee on Security and Defence that the subject was “becoming less of a taboo, because we understand that neutrality doesn’t mean defenselessness. Neutrality doesn’t mean allowing yourself [to be pushed around] and not being able to stand up to aggression”.
That is why “we are proactively seeking partnerships to integrate Moldova into the broader European logistics chains of military industry”, Mihai Popsoi stressed, explaining that his country wanted to be part of European military supply and production chains. “We’re not going to be building F-16s or Griffins or anything of that nature anytime soon, but any component that would put Moldova on the map of these European military logistics chains is important and entirely aligned with our neutrality”, he added.
The minister, whose country has a security and defence partnership with the EU, also said he was eager to take part in defence programmes such as SAFE or EDIP.
The minister went on to speak about the new €120 million aid package under the European Peace Facility for his country’s air defence, adopted on Monday 13 July by the EU Council (see EUROPE 13908/11). Emphasising that his country already had radar systems, Mihai Popsoi explained that it needed interceptors. “It’s costly, but we are committed to investing more in defence”, he explained, while acknowledging that the 3.5% target set by NATO - of which the country is not a member - would “already be a considerable effort”, given that Moldova has so far “dangerously underinvested” in defence.
The minister noted that “it will take time to acquire [the interceptors]. There are no readily available sitting on the shelves air defence systems”. “But it’s good for us to get ourselves in line and when the time comes, to be able to assure our citizens that we can control and defend our airspace, the basic element of national sovereignty”, he added.
Finally, the minister highlighted the EU’s support for Moldova, particularly through its partnership mission, to combat hybrid threats. “We’ve made considerable progress in cyber defence. We have also made significant progress in resisting and countering Russian hybrid operations, and we’ve gained valuable lessons and greater resilience”, the minister explained.
Thanks to European support, “Moldova can now not only respond to Russian hybrid operations, but also monitor and observe, in near real time, the implementation and dissemination of certain propaganda”, he said.
Mihai Popsoi said he was eager to share the lessons learned. “We’ve actively shared these lessons with our Armenian friends and are very pleased that they managed to avoid the worst (during the parliamentary elections), but the work continues”, he added. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)