VIDEO | Mihai Isac, about the military agreement with Romania: "If we are neutral, it doesn't mean we have to be stupid"

The neutrality of the Republic of Moldova does not mean that the country must remain defenseless or give up military cooperation with other states. The statement was made by international relations and security expert Mihai Isac, during a debate organized by the IPN agency, in the context of the signing of an agreement with Romania that allows the Republic of Moldova to participate in joint military procurements through the European SAFE mechanism.

The expert welcomed the expansion of military cooperation with Romania and Ukraine, emphasizing that such partnerships are natural even for neutral states. According to Isac, neutrality is frequently used in Russian propaganda to challenge the modernization of the National Army and the relations of the Republic of Moldova with Western partners.

“[…] We are subject to permanent propaganda from the Russian Federation. If the fence at the Cahul brigade of the National Army is painted, we can read Russian propaganda that soldiers from the Republic of Moldova are being sent to the front in Ukraine. If the wheels are changed on a National Army vehicle, we are already being sent to Somalia and here it is very important that the authorities communicate their developments and intentions as clearly as possible”, declared Mihai Isac.

Referring to the agreement signed on November 2 in Bucharest, but also to the technical-military cooperation with Ukraine, the expert explained that the Republic of Moldova can benefit from the experience and technologies of other states to modernize its army, without this contradicting its neutrality status.

"We must understand that if we are neutral, it does not mean that we have to be stupid, it does not mean that we have to be defenseless. All neutral states on the European continent, whether we are talking about Switzerland, which pro-Russian propaganda always loves to offer us as an example, whether we are talking about Austria, whether we are talking about Cyprus, Malta, all these states have cooperation treaties, either bilateral or with relevant international organizations. For example, Switzerland even has an extremely profitable defense industry, being one of the main exporters of high-quality technical solutions for the defense industry. Austria too. So, these steps that the Republic of Moldova is taking will help it save important financial resources along the way, considering that we will directly benefit from the expertise of Ukraine or other partner states, such as Romania or other member states of the European Union," the expert explained.

Isac believes that the Republic of Moldova is trying to recover the decades in which the National Army benefited from insufficient resources. He recalled the radar systems purchased with the support of the European Union and the partnership in the field of security and defense between Chisinau and Brussels.

"The Republic of Moldova is already making great strides to recover the decades-long period in which the National Army and defense structures, in general, were treated as the Cinderella of the national budget. And the fact that the Republic of Moldova already benefits, for example, from radar systems purchased by the European Union for the Republic of Moldova. The fact that the Republic of Moldova has that strategic partnership with the European Union in the field of defense, with a model that the European Union is already beginning to apply in its relations with other states in other regions, shows the importance of the Republic of Moldova in the defense architecture on the eastern flank," said Mihai Isac.

At the same time, the expert drew attention to the fact that signing cooperation agreements does not mean that the Republic of Moldova will immediately receive all the equipment it needs. Military procurement involves procedures and delivery deadlines, and some information cannot be made public for security reasons.

"And yes, it is clear that some of these provisions will not be known very quickly, due to the security criteria required by the partner states, and the signing of these agreements does not mean that we will be able to go to a military supermarket and purchase what we need immediately. Any signing of an agreement to purchase defense systems or systems to serve the National Army, such as means of transportation or technological services, takes time, and at the same time, the Republic of Moldova could make certain efforts to create branches of the defense industry. Branches that the Republic of Moldova can use both to improve its financial situation, but also for the future, for the development of a civilian industry," the expert added.

In Isac's opinion, the Republic of Moldova could also develop its own defense technologies, such as systems based on artificial intelligence and equipment for intercepting drones. In this context, he ironized the statements about alleged drone factories in Chisinau.

"And we are not talking about the ideas propagated by the Russian-language or pro-Russian media in the Republic of Moldova, such as these drone factories that we see the mayor of Chisinau constantly looking for in industrial areas. We are talking, for example, about solutions using artificial intelligence for defense systems, we are talking about creating conditions for the manufacture of drone interception systems. We will never in the Republic of Moldova have imperial ambitions to build drones that are going to strike 10.000 kilometers inside the Russian Federation, as we see that the Russian Federation is terrorizing us and the population of Ukraine and other states," Isac said.

We recall that, on November 2, in Bucharest, representatives of the Ministries of Defense of the Republic of Moldova and Romania signed the documents through which Chisinau becomes a partner in a joint military procurement project carried out through the European SAFE instrument.

Under the agreement, the National Army is to receive 62 multi-purpose military trucks, produced by the Italian company IVECO Defence Vehicles. According to the Ministry of Defence, the vehicles will be purchased from the Republic of Moldova's defence budget. The documents were signed in the presence of the Prime Minister of Romania, Luca Niculescu, and the Ministers of Defence of the two states, Anatolie Nosatîi and Ștefan-Radu Oprea.