NATO to help Moldova strengthen national security - deputy secretary general

CHISINAU. Dec 9 (Interfax) - The North Atlantic Alliance will continue to help Moldova enhance national security, NATO Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana said.

"Our partnership is strong. And it is growing even stronger at this challenging time," the press service for the Moldovan Defense Ministry quoted Geoana as saying at the international conference with the theme "Developing NATO Partnerships in a Changing Security Environment" in Chisinau.

"Our cooperation is, and has always been, in full respect of Moldova's constitutional neutrality," he said.

"But as [Moldovan] President Maia Sandu and [Foreign] Minister [Nicu] Popescu have said also, at the NATO meeting, being neutral doesn't mean that you have to be weak in defense. So this is where, taking the request from the Republic of Moldova very seriously for additional support to strengthen its legitimate national security interests," Geoana said.

Moldovan Defense Minister Anatolie Nosatii presented a report on international cooperation with partners and modernization of the Moldovan army under the Defense and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative (DCBI) at the conference, which analyzes achievements in the Moldova-NATO partnership and cooperation prospects.