Majority of Moldovans oppose idea of joining NATO, president says

Maia Sandu

CHISINAU, April 11. /TASS/: The majority of Moldovan citizens oppose the idea of the country abandoning neutrality and joining NATO, President Maia Sandu said on Tuesday.

"The people should want it because it means changes to the constitution and should be done through a referendum. However, if we look at opinion polls today, we will see that there is no serious support for the idea of abandoning neutrality," she said in an interview with PRO TV.

Sandu added that apart from the Supreme Security Council, another agency would be established in the country, which would be tasked with combating information manipulations and propaganda.

In an address to the Munich Security Conference, Sandu asked NATO members to assist her country in the fight against the spread of information reflecting Russia’s view on global developments on social media. Moldova’s parliament, in turn, passed a law making it possible "to control online propaganda and disinformation."

Polls show that over 55% of Moldovans strongly oppose the country’s NATO membership and 27% support the initiative. However, Sandu did not rule out earlier that Chisinau might abandon neutrality and join the military alliance amid the Ukrainian crisis. She also expressed interest in boosting cooperation with NATO in rearming Moldova’s army.