Moldovan-Italian Meeting at the Ministry of Defense

Chisinau, December 11, 2013 — Minister of Defense Vitalie Marinuta met with the Italian Ambassador to Chisinau, Enrico Nunziata. The event was attended by the Italian defense attaché accredited to the Republic of Moldova, based in Bucharest, Col. Giovanni Cazzorla.

The officials discussed the current bilateral defense relations, as well as the identification and development of new areas that would enhance cooperation between the two armies.

Vitalie Marinuta thanked the Italian ambassador for the commitment in providing logistic support to the Moldovan troops within the KFOR mission. In this way, a very important goal of the National Army was achieved, namely concerning the development of contribution to the regional and international stability, through participation in international peacekeeping, humanitarian assistance and crisis management operations.

“We hope that Italy will sign soon the technical agreement to permit the deployment of the military contingent to Kosovo. The 41 servicemembers of the National Army, prepared and trained in compliance with NATO standards, are ready for the mission”, the Minister of Defense specified.

Enrico Nunziata underlined the importance of the decision of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova, to contribute troops to KFOR mission, which gives our country the status of a security provider, along with other European countries.

The Parliament of the Republic of Moldova approved, on November 1, the deployment of a contingent of 41 servicemembers to the international peacekeeping operation in Kosovo, as part of the Multinational Peacekeeping Force (KFOR).

The contingent of the Republic of Moldova will consist of a platoon of 33 servicemembers, that will carry out security, guard and patrol missions, an EOD team of 7 servicemembers, as well as a staff officer.