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| Transnistrian and Russian tanks in a joint military exercise. Photo: Transnistrian Ministry of Defence. |
Moldova and Romania’s defence ministers said on Monday that they will form a joint military battalion for deployment in emergency situations.
"We have agreed today to go to the expert level and identify the area where this mixed battalion can be placed," said Romanian Defence Minister Mihai Fifor at a joint press conference in Chisinau.
His Moldovan counterpart Eugen Sturza also annouonced that Moldova’s soldiers will resume military training with Romanian soldiers in order to increase the interoperability between the two armies.
In 2017, the participation of Moldovan soldiers in external military exercises was forbidden by pro-Russian president Igor Dodon.
The purpose of such joint exercises is for the Moldovan army to attain NATO standards of professionalism.
The defence ministers’ talks in Chisinau also covered joint training for both countries’ armed forces and the provision of assistance for the ongoing process of reform and modernisation of the Moldovan army.
Meanwhile, Russian troops in Transnistria intensified their military manoeuvres on the left bank of the Dniester river alongside with soldiers from the breakaway administration in Tiraspol.
In 2017, Russian soldiers conducted around 200 military exercises in Transnistria. Some of them were held in preparation to defend the region from potential anti-tank and anti-aviation attacks.
They also included anti-terrorist scenarios and even the crossing of the Dniester River to the right bank controlled by the authorities in Chisinau.
Russia has stationed about 2,000 soldiers in Transnistria since the 1992 truce that ended a war over the breakaway region between pro-Russian separatists and the Moldovan military.
Moldova asked the United Nations in August 2017 to discuss the withdrawal of Russia’s troops from Transnistria in accordance with an agreement signed by Russia at an OSCE summit held in 1999.
Russia insists that its military presence is only to ensure peace.
