The Republic of Moldova has asked allies to strengthen its air defence capabilities as war rages in neighbouring Ukraine, although what the country calls Russian efforts to destabilise it have so far failed, President Maia Sandu said on Thursday, according to Euractiv.
“We have requested air surveillance and defence systems,” Sandu told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. “We understand Ukraine is a priority” but we also hope to receive some, she said.
To Ukraine’s west, fellow former Soviet Republic Moldova has a tiny defence budget and has long had tense relations with Moscow. Russia has troops and peacekeepers based in Transdniestria, a breakaway statelet of Moldova that has survived for three decades with the Kremlin’s support.
The Republic of Moldova’s pro-Western government has strongly backed Kyiv since the Russian invasion and submitted a formal request to join the European Union just a week after Russian troops rolled into Ukraine last February.
Sandu said the country’s military budget had been increased and the government was talking to the EU about air defence systems, with talks also on a bilateral basis with allies. She said she felt the country was safe given Ukraine’s resistance to Russia.
The Republic of Moldova has accused Moscow of trying to use its influence over the separatist movement in mainly Russian-speaking Transnistria to destabilise the rest of the mainly Romanian-speaking country.
Sandu said what she called destabilising efforts had failed so far and that neither side wanted conflict.
“Russia did try to mobilise corrupt groups in Republic of Moldova and pro-Russian parties with the objective to take down the government, parliament and presidency and it doesn’t mean it has given up, but we have so far been able to maintain stability,” she said.
Last year, separatist authorities blamed several blasts on Ukraine, which denied any connection with the incidents. Russia’s foreign ministry has said Moscow wanted to avoid a scenario in which it had to intervene in the region.