Mircea Geoană: "We are perfectly respectful of Moldova's constitutional neutrality. You have to be stronger if you are neutral"
Moldova's neutrality status requires the strengthening of defence capabilities, the development of solutions to address security risks and threats in the context of the hybrid war waged by the Russian Federation. "Being neutral does not mean being weak in terms of security, on the contrary, you have to be stronger," NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoană told journalists in Vilnius. The official added that in the Republic of Moldova, Soviet-style Russian propaganda is still being perpetuated by its heirs.
"We have said it every time, we are perfectly respectful of the constitutional neutrality of the Republic of Moldova. I said it yesterday when I led the meeting with the foreign ministers of the Republic of Moldova, Georgia and Bosnia. If a country wants to come to NATO and qualifies, we are open to discuss. If a country decides to be neutral, we respect that. Being neutral, as President Maia Sandu said very, very correctly, being neutral does not mean being weak in terms of security. On the contrary, you have to be stronger if you are neutral. Look at Switzerland, for example, look even at Ireland, look at other countries in such situations," said the NATO Deputy Secretary General.
Mircea Geoană also said that NATO is an alliance that the countries of the world want to join. Sweden, a country that has been neutral since 1812, decided to join NATO because of the aggressive behaviour of the Russian Federation.
On Wednesday, at the end of the NATO summit in Vilnius, Romanian President Klaus Iohannis said that Romania will allocate a new financial contribution to the North Atlantic Alliance's voluntary fund set up for the Republic of Moldova. According to the official, the Romanian state has advocated financial support for the package of measures aimed at the Republic of Moldova to strengthen defence capabilities and increase resilience.
The NATO Summit was held in Vilnius (Lithuania) on 11-12 July. Alliance leaders agreed on decisions that will bring Ukraine closer to NATO, reached a consensus on Sweden's membership in the North Atlantic Alliance and sent a message of support for the Republic of Moldova.
