US strategist suggests Moldova-Romania-Bulgaria non-EU, non-NATO military alliance
Romanian, Bulgarian and Moldovan interests lie with the Atlantic community, not solely the European continent, therefore the three countries should perhaps develop "a formal [military]" alliance mechanism, argues Seth Cropsey, one of America's leading experts on maritime and defence strategy.
The column, published by the influential US publication The Hill, argues that Europe, particularly Germany, has little interest in supporting southeastern Europe in a struggle against Russian expansion. The US should start discussions between Romania, Bulgaria and Moldova on a non-EU, perhaps non-NATO, political-security arrangement, the columnist suggests at the end of his analysis of the latest developments in Moldova.
In separate news, the President of the European Parliament, Roberta Metsola, speaking in Chisinau, announced the need to create a security union in the EU, "which will become part of NATO and can help Moldova strengthen the security system." She thus answered journalists' inquiry about how the EU can help Moldova protect its airspace, given that Russian missiles have flown over Moldova more than once, and part of a missile shot down in Ukraine fell on the territory of the republic.
On the other hand, Moldovan Parliament speaker Igor Grosu stated that the new EU military mobility plan does not provide for the deployment of troops on the territory of the Republic of Moldova.
Moldova's military neutrality is inked in the Constitution and is a sensitive topic. The Head of the Parliament stressed that the EU mobility plan is about the troops deployed by the NATO member states at the EU border, not outside its borders.
On November 10, the Commission and the High Representative put forward an Action Plan on Military Mobility 2.0 and a Joint Communication on an EU cyber defence policy to address the deteriorating security environment following Russia's aggression against Ukraine and to boost the EU's capacity to protect its citizens and infrastructure.
iulian@romania-insider.com
(Photo source: Michele Ursi | Dreamstime.com)
