Prime Minister of Moldova: NATO office in Chisinau will begin operations in March
The Prime Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip, stated that the NATO office in Chișinău will start operating in March.
"We have developed a new draft national defense strategy and presented it to the public. In March, a NATO Liaison office will start operating in Chișinău. This will allow for the necessary dialogue and cooperation for the modernization of our national army to begin,” Filip stressed at a press conference on Friday dedicated to the anniversary of his administration.
As was reported, at the end of November 2016, Moldova signed an agreement to open the NATO office in Chișinău. The document was signed at the NATO headquarters in Brussels by the Prime Minister of Moldova, Pavel Filip, and the NATO General Secretary, Jens Stoltenberg. The document was ratified by the parliament in December and came into force before the inauguration of the new President, Igor Dodon.
The new President of Moldova discussed the intention to block the work of the NATO office and "ensure the strict maintenance of Maldova’s neutrality as a basic principle." At the end of last year he dismissed the Defense Minister, Anatol Şalaru, for supporting NATO integration and the unification Moldova with Romania.