Moldova Lawmakers Approve Boost for Defense Budget Under New Strategy

The parliament of Moldova, controlled by pro-Western lawmakers, has approved a 10-year defense strategy calling for increased defense spending as part of a plan to join the European Union.

The chamber’s pro-Russian opposition ridiculed the document as pointlessly directed against Moscow in view of Moldova’s small land mass and armed forces.

The document, presented by Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatîi and adopted on Thursday, aims to boost defense spending by 2030 to 1% of gross domestic product, with figures showing increases already being put into place.

“The first step to implementing this was taken after the war in Ukraine started, by increasing budget resources for defense to 0.39% in 2022 and 0.55% in 2023,” the document said.

One of Europe’s poorest countries, lying between Ukraine and EU member Romania, Moldova, a former Soviet republic, is a candidate to join the EU, with a membership date set for 2030. It is not considering joining the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) as the country’s neutral status is set down in its constitution.

The document says Moldova’s neutral status requires it to boost partnerships with different countries and international organizations to strengthen its national defense.

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 has jolted Moldova as drone fragments land on its territory and missiles aimed at Ukrainian targets pass through its airspace.

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Members of the pro-Moscow Socialist Party dismissed the document as meaningless.

“If, God forbid, we are subject to an attack from the direction of the Russian Federation, how long do you think Moldova will resist such aggression?” Socialist member Adrian Albu asked.

“Simply because we are shouting from a rostrum?”

The document cites risks of the Ukraine conflict spreading, particularly around the Black Sea port of Odesa close to Moldova’s border.

See the original here.