PM Vlad Filat: Moldova is not going to join NATO
The Republic of Moldova is not planning to accede to NATO, and all media stories concerning such a plan are but inventions, Moldovan Prime Minister Vlad Filat stated in his interview with Russia's official ITAR-TASS new agency, adding that during the first month of his premiership he has already got tired refuting the inventions.
Filat explained the republic is not going to join NATO because its Constitution says clearly that Moldova is a neutral country, "and one does not even have to be a lawyer to understand that, in principle, this constitutional norm cannot be changed".
He stated that Moldova really seeks to get integrated into the European Union, but this does not mean the Moldovan Government is refusing to cooperate with Russia or with the Commonwealth of Independent States.
"During my recent meetings with Russian leadership representatives - Chief of the Russian Presidential Administration Sergei Naryshkin and First Deputy Prime Minister Igor Shuvalov - I reaffirmed the continuity of the historically-set friendly relations between our countries, and spoke out for developing our mutually beneficial pragmatic cooperation", he said.
Vlad Filat stressed the new Government of Moldova shall never be giving empty promises in order to subsequently refuse to fulfill them, "as our predecessors used to do".
The Premier spoke out for resuming negotiations on Transnistrian conflict settlement, and he is looking forward to discussing this topic with Russia Prime Minister Vladimir Putin in Yalta (Crimea, Ukraine) on November 20.
Filat refuted media stories that he is allegedly going to demand in an ultimatum-like form a withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Transnistria.
"I respect Mr. Putin very much. I like his work style that serves an example of how a person should behave at such a high post... But Moldova is a neutral state, and its governments have always stood up for removing foreign troops, weapons and ammunition", Filat said, remarking that yet Moldova's Communist President Vladimir Voronin used to propose replacement of the Russian peacekeepers with an international mission of civilian observers to work in the Transnistria Security Zone.
"I presume that in a situation when peace has been reigning for many years, the incumbent peacekeeping format should be changed. It is not at all necessary to keep soldiers with guns and combat equipment there. At the same time, I realize very well that decisions on Transnistria have to be taken only at a negotiating table, with an account of the interests of all negotiation parties".
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