On 29 March 2021, an online event marked the delivery of information technology (IT) equipment from NATO to Moldova’s Ministry of Defence. The IT equipment will be installed in the Ministry’s Transformation Directorate. It will contribute to move the Moldovan defence transformation effort forward.
The project is part of NATO’s cooperation with Moldova via the Defence and related security Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative. The DCB Initiative provides advisory support mainly to the Moldovan Ministry of Defence and can also include on a case-by-case basis practical assistance while fully respecting Moldova’s constitutional neutrality.
The financial contribution for the implementation of this MDL 250,000 (Euro 11,800) project came from two NATO Allies – the Republic of Latvia and the Republic of Lithuania, and a NATO partner – the Kingdom of Sweden.
“The successful delivery of this project is yet another very good example of NATO’s continuous support to our partners despite the challenges posed by the pandemic”, NATO’s Deputy Assistant Secretary General within the Operations Division, Jonathan Parish, said during the event. The representative of the Moldovan side, the State Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Aurel Fondos remarked: “This equipment is critical to move the Moldovan defence transformation effort forward, and your financial contribution helped us get one step closer to our goal.”
The DCB Initiative illustrates NATO’s commitment to partners, and provides support to nations requesting assistance to improve their defence and related security capabilities. The Initiative was launched in 2014 at the NATO Summit in Wales. The DCB package for the Republic of Moldova was agreed by Allies and Moldova in 2015. Along with the Republic of Moldova, Georgia, Iraq, Jordan and Tunisia benefit from a NATO DCB package.