Moldova is a neutral country. Article 11 of the Constitution of Moldova states: "The Republic of Moldova proclaims its permanent neutrality. The Republic of Moldova does not allow the deployment of armed forces of other states on its territory."
The Mission of Moldova to NATO was established in 1997 with the appointment of the first Moldovan representative to the EAPC. The mission is located within the Embassy of Moldova in Brussels and has a liaison office in the premises of NATO headquarters in Brussels.
Vladimir Voronin visited NATO headquarters in Brussels on 23 June 2003, 7 June 2005, 22 June 2006, 18 June 2007, and 5 December 2007.
With the support of NATO's Public Diplomacy Division, an Information and Documentation Centre on NATO was inaugurated at the Moldova State University in October 2007.
On 3 April, at the 2008 Bucharest summit, NATO announced its support for the territorial integrity, independence and sovereignty of Moldova.[5][6] Voronin participated to the Working Lunch of the Heads of State and Government of countries Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in Bucharest.
On 18 November 2008, NATO Parliamentary Assembly adopted Resolution 371 on the future of NATO–Russia relations, with among other things, "urges the government and the parliament of Russia to respect its commitments which were taken at the Istanbul OSCE Summit in 1999 and has to withdraw its illegal military presence from the Transdnestrian region of Moldova in the nearest future."[7]
The former communist government, which lost its majority in parliament in 2009 elections, was seen as more allied with Russia and was already a member of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In April 2009, Moldova announced it would not participate in the June NATO military exercises. The new ruling party, the Alliance for European Integration, declined to take any action to either move towards membership, or withdraw from the Commonwealth of Independent States, and denied plans to do either.[9]
Following the 2014 annexation of Crimea by Russia, NATO officials warned that Russiamight seek to annexTransnistria, a breakaway Moldovan region.[13] This separatist issue could preclude Moldova from joining NATO,[14] due to an unwillingness of alliance members to commit to defending a state which does not control its whole territory.
Moldovan President Maia Sandu stated in January 2023 that there was "serious discussion" about joining "a larger alliance" following the Russian invasion of Ukraine, though she did not specifically name NATO.[15]
On 2 February 2023, Russian foreign minister Sergey Lavrov declared that Moldova might have Ukraine's fate (meaning to be attacked by Russia) if the Moldovan president Maia Sandu wants Moldova to unite with Romania and join NATO.[17][18][19]
Public opinion
A poll in June 2018 found that 22% of Moldovans would vote in favour of joining NATO, while 43% would oppose.[20]
Another poll in December 2018 found that, if given the choice in a referendum, 22% of Moldovans would vote in favor of joining NATO, while 32% would vote against it and 21% would be unsure.[21]