The head of the NATO Partnerships and Cooperative Security Committee James Appathurai considers the partnership between Moldova and NATO should be strengthened by implementing different initiatives in the area of security. The official, who is in Chisinau on a visit, said NATO respects Moldova’s status of neutrality and the country’s territorial integrity, IPN reports.

James Appathurai told a news conference that this visit to Moldova is a good occasion for discussing the prospects within the partnership between Moldova and NATO that was established over 20 years ago. Intense discussions have been held lately with the Ministry of Defense for identifying the areas where NATO could make a greater contribution. The security strategy and policy should be reviewed and adjusted and NATO can provide the necessary expertise.

“We have a new instrument available, called the Defense and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative, through which we hope to bring more resources and increased concentration within our partnership so as to strengthen and extend this practical partnership. We expect that these changes will occur over the next few weeks as we will have a meeting of the defense minsters next month,” stated James Appathurai.

According to him, in Moldova, as in many other states, the people should be informed about NATO as it seems that this organization is not perceived correctly.

This is the first visit by members of a NATO Committee to Chisinau. The delegation includes representatives of the neutral European states – Austria, Switzerland, Sweden, Finland, and Ireland.