Moldova does not have its own air defense system, therefore, in terms of protection against Russian missiles, it can count today only on Ukraine, and in the future — on the general “NATO umbrella” that will be installed over the European Union. Today, March 31, a member of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, Oazu Nantoi, spoke about this on the TV channel FREEDOM.
He reminded that geographically Moldova is located between Ukraine and Romania, which is a NATO country. Therefore, the initiative to establish a “NATO umbrella” will protect Moldova from air targets over the European Union, in particular. In addition, Romania is currently building the largest NATO base on the European continent.
“In other words, it is easiest for the Republic of Moldova to protect its airspace by joining this joint air defense system. Because Moldova currently does not have the resources to build an effective three-tier air defense system. This, unfortunately, belongs to the realm of fiction. The radars we buy now can monitor the airspace, but they can't shoot down anything that flies — from sparrows to cruise missiles. This problem really exists”,— said Nantoi.
He noted that Moldova “played with neutrality” for 30 years, and it is not always easy for society today to understand the significance of NATO. This is, in particular, the result of Russian propaganda, which has been strong in the region since the 1990s, when the Russian Federation actually occupied Moldova's Transnistria.
“Society has been under the influence of Russian propaganda for a long time that NATO — this is an aggressive block. Therefore, today no more than a quarter of our citizens who live on the right bank of the Dniester believe that Moldova could defend itself by joining NATO. And our Constitution states that the decision to renounce neutrality must be adopted in a referendum by the majority of votes of citizens included in the electoral lists. Today this is absolutely unrealistic. Therefore, we can only hope that the air defense system of Ukraine will be quite effective, and the territory of Moldova, although not directly, but indirectly, will be protected by the Ukrainian air defense system”, — emphasized Nantoi.
The deputy recalled that there were cases when Russian missiles launched from the Black Sea violated the airspace of Moldova.
“The missiles were deliberately launched through the airspace of the Republic of Moldova in order to attack Ukraine.The Russian generals know very well that we do not have an air defense system, and they manage to such cynical steps.Also, Russia deliberately launches its “Shahedy” along the border between Moldova and Ukraine, and when the Ukrainian air defense system shoots them down, there are cases when the fragments of these drones fall on the territory of Moldova.But all this is the price we pay for our notorious neutrality. em>And I repeat once again: we are protected by Ukraine”, — summarized Oazu Nantoi.