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Moldovan servicemen might fight in Ukraine under French flag, the Russian media writes, commenting on the signing of a French-Moldovan security agreement.
NEWS: [...] Right now, a military mission of the former Gaul, a present-day halfway house between Africa and the Middle East, will open in Chișinău. All this “grandeur” occurs against the backdrop of two high-profile events.
First, the Republic of Moldova [...] can buy or receive in the form of assistance as many weapons as it wants, in order to achieve complete superiority over Transnistria. What should Transnistria do? With Russia’s support, it should strengthen its defensive capabilities, both quantitatively and qualitatively. And this is a regional arms race.
Second, some media outlets reported that French troops could at some point enter Moldova and even Transnistria. The claims were “corrected” by Macron: according to local politicians who met with him, the president said French troops could arrive in Ukraine if their Russian counterparts advance closer to Kyiv or Odesa. The French president has not denied this scenario [...] (ng.ru, March 10)
[...] According to the former Moldovan Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Valeriu Ostalep, the emergence of French stakeholders as advisers and arms sellers, the signing of defense agreements and documents on the collaboration of special services, as well as “the constant discussion about weapons deliveries to Moldova raise suspicion regarding possible acts of provocation that might be prepared with the use of our territory and, most likely, our people”.
There is speculation that the defense agreement signed by the Moldovan and French defense ministers during the visit to Paris of Moldova’s president, Maia Sandu, will allow, if the situation so requires, the use of Moldova as a corridor for sending NATO troops to Ukraine. The former security minister of the Republic of Moldova, Anatol Plugaru, told NG: “Chișinău opened its airspace to NATO use, now it is opening a land corridor, thereby drawing the Republic of Moldova into the conflict, which makes Moldova a legitimate target for the Russian Armed Forces”.
[...] The community of Moldovan experts has started considering a scenario where France decides to deploy its troops to Ukraine, a possibility Emmanuel Macron does not rule out, in which case Moldovan soldiers could fight under French flag. (ng.ru, March 13)
NARRATIVES: 1. France will enter the war in Ukraine, and Moldovan servicemen will be sent to the battlefront as “cannon fodder”. 2. The Republic of Moldova will allow for the deployment for foreign troops and military equipment on its territory after the suspension of the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE).
BACKGROUND: The neutral status of the Republic of Moldova is enshrined in the Constitution, voted in 1994 by a leftist parliament. Preserving the status quo is promoted by pro-Moscow politicians, who present it as a guarantee of the country's security.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization, however, is still presented as a scarecrow to a significant part of the population of the Republic of Moldova, which sees NATO through the lens of Soviet propaganda and, more recently, of the Russian Federation. Under these conditions, surveys show that only approximately 30% of the population would vote in favor of the Republic of Moldova's NATO accession.
On the other hand, an increasing number of experts and politicians draw attention to the fact that the country’s neutrality does not serve as a security guarantee, as shown by the Russian invasion of Georgia in 2008, and later by the annexation of Crimea by Russia and the creation of separatist “republics”, backed by Moscow, in eastern Ukraine in 2014. The Russian military invasion of Ukraine of 2022 prompted several traditionally neutral states to review their security and neutrality policies, and two of them (Finland and Sweden) have since joined the North Atlantic Alliance.
After Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government in Chișinău launched several actions to strengthen the country's defense capabilities, given that it feels threatened by the Russian Federation, which launched a hybrid war against the Republic of Moldova and allegedly devised a plan to remove its pro-European leadership. However, Russian propaganda has interpreted efforts to strengthen the country’s security as preparations for war, for an attack on Transnistria, or for joining NATO.
PURPOSE: To instill fear at society level regarding Moldova’s involvement in the war in Ukraine and the risk that Moldovan servicemen should be sent to the frontlines.
WHY THE NARRATIVES ARE FALSE: The narrative about the participation of Moldovan servicemen in the war in Ukraine under French flag draws on the signing, on March 7, of a defense cooperation agreement with France, the second after the one signed in 1998. The 2024 agreement provides for official visits and working meetings, transfer of expertise, joint trainings and exercises, internships, consultations, conferences, classes, specializations and other forms of advanced scientific training. The document does not refer to joint participation in military actions, especially given the Republic of Moldova’s neutrality.
The French defense delegation the publication refers to will consist of a single person, a woman lieutenant-colonel, who is currently accredited for the Republic of Moldova, but works out of Bucharest, Minister of Defense, Anatolie Nosatîi has said.
The statements regarding the Republic of Moldova’s involvement in the war, using as “argument” the increase in investments in the country’s security, are equally baseless. The defense budget of the Republic of Moldova for 2024 stand at approximately 100 million EUR, tantamount to what Ukraine spends in a day of war to defend itself against Russia. The military capabilities of the Republic of Moldova are greatly exaggerated by Russian propaganda, especially taking into account the fact that its army is considered the world’s next to last strongest army.
The Constitution of the Republic of Moldova stipulates the permanent neutrality of the country and prohibits the deployment of military troops of other states on its territory. Therefore, right now, the only state that violates these provisions is the Russian Federation, which maintains troops and military ammunition in the breakaway region of Transnistria in the east of the Republic of Moldova.
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