CHISINAU. April 11 (Interfax) - Moldova's relations with various international organizations, including NATO, is the country's sovereign and independent decision, the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration said, commenting on a statement of Russian Foreign Ministry spokesperson Maria Zakharova.
"The neutrality of our country doesn't mean isolationism. The authorities are developing partner relations with organizations and governments for maintaining peace and the country's security. We reiterate that Moldova has been cooperating with NATO since 1992," the Moldovan Foreign Ministry's commentary says.
"Cooperation with this organization, including within the framework of the Partnership for Peace, has brought and is continuing to bring real benefits, not only to our country but also to regional security. These relations are developing solely on the basis of observing the neutrality of the Republic of Moldova," it says.
In her commentary published on Monday, Zakharova expressed hope that there were still some political forces in Moldova capable of understanding that the country's rapprochement with NATO is fraught with the loss of sovereignty.
"We have stressed repeatedly that various partnership formats to enhance cooperation with NATO are more of a tool of manipulation rather than aimed at genuinely mutually beneficial and equal cooperation and boosting Euro-Atlantic security. The attempts to draw Moldova into the North-Atlantic bloc look especially cynical against the backdrop of the situation in Ukraine, which was largely provoked by the alliance's irresponsible enlargement policy," Zakharova said on the ministry's website, commenting on the remarks made by NATO First Deputy Secretary General Mircea Geoana.
"We hope there still remain political forces in Moldova who are capable of grasping that getting closer to NATO could lead to a loss of sovereignty, and that the alliance's rampant expansion is nothing but a continuation of the West's neocolonial traditions disregarding both the internal political specifics of states and the centuries-long established ties with their neighbors," she said.
Geoana said in an interview with the Romanian state news agency Agerpres on April 6 that NATO was ready for cooperation with Moldova to the extent that Chisinau was.