NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg called on Russia to withdraw its troops from Moldova’s territory as he.welcomed Moldovan Prime Minister Dorin Recean to NATO Headquarters on Thursday.
At the Vilnius Summit, allies had agreed on continuing to step up NATO’s longstanding practical and political cooperation with Moldova.
Russia stationed 1,500 troops in Transnistria, an unrecognized breakaway state in eastern Moldova in 1992, when the 14th Guards Army intervened in a war between the pro-Russian separatists and Moldova.
Mr. Stoltenberg thanked Moldova for contributing to the KFOR peacekeeping mission in Kosovo. “Stability in the Western Balkans matters for all of us”.
Stoltenberg also praised Moldova’s 30-year-long partnership with the military alliance.
Moldova, which lies between Ukraine and Romania, is neutral, and joined NATO’s Partnership for Peace program in 1994. It has not applied to join the military alliance and prior to Russia’s invasion of Moldova, there was no tangible support for this.
Relations with Russia have deteriorated since it invaded Ukraine in Feb. 2022. Chisinau has repeatedly accused Moscow of trying to destabilize the country of 2.8 million which lies between Ukraine and Romania. Russia denies meddling in Moldova’s internal affairs.
In July, Moldova announced it was expelling 45 Russian diplomats and other embassy staff after reports suggested that new surveillance equipment was installed on the Russian embassy roof and a neighboring building used by Russia.
