Military Attaches Meet in Chisinau

CHISINAU, December 7, 2017 — The annual meeting of military attaches appointed to the Republic of Moldova was held today at the Ministry of Defense. During the event, the participants discussed the external defense cooperation of the past year.

Minister of Defense Eugen Sturza thanked the military attaches corps and the representatives of OSCE Mission for the support and assistance offered during the reformation process of the national defense system and specified that, through the joint projects and initiatives, the military capabilities of the National Army have been consolidated in key areas, such as military education, training, personnel, technical-material resources, and infrastructure.

“Thanks to you, messengers of the armies that you are representing, we managed to maintain good cooperation relationships with our partners”, said Eugen Sturza.

LTC Tatiana Ionel, Chief of International Cooperation Directorate, reviewed the main external actions carried out by the Ministry of Defense that aimed to achieve and promote de defense sector’s reforms and to improve the military institution’s image on international level.

LTC Ionel mentioned the cooperation with the European Union, NATO, OSCE within various projects, such as: the implementation of the Defense Capacity Building Initiative (DCBI), the participation of National Army service members in peacekeeping operations (KFOR and UN-led missions) and activities conducted in the frame of the Project “Weapons and ammunition stockpile management”, implemented with the support of OSCE Mission in the Republic of Moldova.

LTC Tatiana Ionel also mentioned the contribution of partner armies to the defense system consolidation through joint projects. Among these there are training activities, logistics assistance, and participation in multinational exercises.

According to Tatiana Ionel, in 2018, the main actions of the Ministry of Defense will be oriented towards enhancing the political and strategic framework of the national defense sector and strengthening the legal and institutional framework, the development of international defense cooperation on bilateral and multinational level, increasing the National Army’s contribution to regional and international stability.

The President of the Defense Attaches Association, LTC Jeffrey Alan Muir, appreciated the availability of the Ministry of Defense to inform the military diplomats about the institution’s priorities for 2018, thus contributing to the identification of new opportunities for strengthening the defense cooperation.

The military attaches’ meeting organized by the Ministry of Defense is an annual event. It aims to familiarize the military attaches corps with the National Army’s current stage of development.

Currently, 29 military attaches are appointed to the Republic of Moldova. Five countries — Romania, the USA, Russian Federation, Poland, and Ukraine — have military diplomats based in Chisinau, the rest are based in Bucharest, Kiev, Belgium, and the Kingdom of the Netherlands.