The President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu, who is the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces, underlined the necessity of outfitting the National Army with modern equipment. The official said that if the war in Ukraine hadn’t existed, the subject wouldn’t have been a priority of the government. Given the Russian invasion of the neighboring country, the authorities are obliged to prepare the army for the gloomiest scenario. For now there are no promises regarding the arming of the Republic of Moldova from the development partners, IPN reports.
President Sandu noted that the war in Ukraine makes the authorities think more seriously about the necessity of modernizing the National Army. In case of a Russian invasion, the soldiers cannot be sent to war without military equipment.
“The Republic of Moldova is and will remain a peaceful country. We do not want weapons for going to fight against the neighbors, as Russia does. We want to be safe at home and want no one to attack us. Even if our defense system is in a very bad situation, if Russia hadn’t launched this aggression against Ukraine, we wouldn’t have probably discussed too much the necessity of equipping the army. When we see what Russia does in Ukraine, it would be unserious not to think how to defend ourselves if such a tragedy happens. I hope a lot we will not experience something like this, but it does not depend on us,” Maia Sandu stated in the program “Good Evening” on the public TV channel.
The official said the opposition’s rhetoric about the intention of the West to arm the Republic of Moldova is false. The European Union is ready to offer assistance in modernizing the army, but it goes only to non-lethal weapons.
“If Russia attacks us, what shall we do? Will we send the army to defend us with a hoe? We do not want to become involved in the war, but it is a reality for which we need to get ready. All the opposition’s discussions are false as the EU said that it can offer us non-lethal equipment even if we need munitions too. We must seriously analyze the equipment level of the national army. If we have an army, we should not neglect it. We should do elementary things. It is not right to keep the army without any equipment that would help us defend ourselves. The only promise we have from the EU refers to non-lethal weapons,” stated Maia Sandu.
She noted that a decision about Moldova’s eventual entry into a military bloc that can offer protection will be taken by the people. Until then, the neutrality status stipulated in the Constitution will be respected.
“For the purpose, we need the support of society. We are a democratic country in which things are decided by the people. When the Constitution was adopted, the people decided that we should be a neutral country. But the neutral countries usually have a very solid and well-equipped army. We are a neutral country and have an army in which no investments were made. We cannot close our eyes and pretend not to be seeing the war,” said President Sandu.
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