July 26, 2024
WEISSENHAUS, Germany (AP) — Moldova’s foreign minister says the small eastern European country is on alert for any signs the conflict in neighboring Ukraine could spill across the border.
Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu told reporters Friday on the sidelines of a G-7 foreign ministers’ meeting in Germany that “the situation is of course fragile, but it is nonetheless relatively calm. We do not face an acute military crisis today.”
At the same time the government has been preparing for “the full spectrum of options,” he said.
“Our interior ministry, defense ministry, intelligence services are on high alert,” Popescu said, citing the presence of Russian troops in the separatist Moldovan region of Transnistria.
Transnistria is a disputed, Russian-backed breakaway state that borders southwestern Ukraine.
Popescu said the Moldovan government was in regular contact with the de facto authorities in Transnistria “because we all have a commitment and an obligation and a duty to keep peace in the entire Moldova, which includes the Transnistrian region.”
