11 December 2024
On the 10 December the President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu addressed NATO ambassadors in a closed meeting of the North Atlantic Council. According to a NATO news release, NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte praised the Moldovan President for her country’s resilience against unprecedented Russian interference and other significant challenges including political pressure, disinformation and hybrid threats. The discussions reportedly focused on regional security, hybrid threats and on the need for joint actions for the protection of the democracies in the region.
Maia Sandu’s visit to NATO headquarters marked the 30th anniversary of Moldova’s participation in NATO’s Partnership for Peace programme. The presidential press service reported that this partnership has contributed to “a safer environment for citizens, to the strengthening of the defence capabilities of the army, and to the resilience of our society as a whole” (unofficial English translation).
Moldova's pro-Western president Maia Sandu won a second term in a pivotal presidential runoff in November against a Russian-friendly opponent, in a race overshadowed by claims of Russian interference, voter fraud and intimidation. In October, Moldovan officials alleged that Moscow had built a “mafia-style” network to distribute cash ahead of the EU membership referendum (the referendum was narrowly approved with 50.35% of the vote).
Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, is constitutionally neutral, but has developed stronger links to both the EU and NATO in recent years. Moldova has faced an unresolved separatist conflict for over 30 years. A contingent of about 1,500 Russian ‘peacekeepers’ is based in mainly Russian-speaking Transnistria that borders southwestern Ukraine.
Bilateral cooperation between NATO and Moldova started when Moldova joined the Partnership for Peace programme in 1994, but support and dialogue increased after 2006, when the country agreed its first two-year Individual Partnership Action Plan. Moldova has contributed troops to the Kosovo Force (KFOR) since March 2014. A tailored package of measures under NATO’s Defence and Related Security Capacity Building initiative was agreed in June 2015, and a civilian NATO Liaison Office was opened in Chisinau in 2017 to promote practical cooperation and facilitate support for the country’s reforms. At the 2022 NATO Summit in Madrid, a package of tailored support measures was agreed to help Moldova strengthen its national resilience and civil preparedness. The Enhanced Defence and Related Security Capacity Building (DCB) Package was subsequently endorsed by NATO Defence Ministers at their February 2023 meeting.
Building on this enhanced DCB Package the first joint NATO-Moldovan exercise on energy and cyber security was held in Chisinau from 12 to 14 March 2024, and in June 2024 experts from Moldova and NATO met in Chisinau to discuss cooperation on strengthening resilience in the energy sector against cyber and hybrid threats.