Official: Moldova to purchase airspace monitoring radar with EU support
This year, with the support of the European Union, the Republic of Moldova aims to purchase a radar that will monitor the airspace and prevent possible threats to the country's security, Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu told a ProTV programme. The head of diplomacy in Chisinau stressed that this had become an emergency in the context of the Russian bombing of Ukraine.
"For this year, one of our priorities for equipment purchases is the acquisition of a radar and obviously this has become much more necessary, much more urgent because of these incidents that have affected Moldova's airspace. Because of this aggressive policy of the Russian Federation, all European countries, including the Republic of Moldova, must invest more in defence in order not to be penalised, in order not to suffer from these Russian bombs, which have crossed our space, we also have problems with airlines that no longer fly to Chisinau and with business uncertainties", said Nicu Popescu.
Nicu Popescu said that better airspace security will prompt international airlines to launch or resume flights to and from Moldova.
In April, the Council of Foreign Ministers of the European Union approved a large support package for the Republic of Moldova worth €40 million, money provided through the European "Facility for Peace" initiative. Half of these resources are for equipping the anti-aircraft system with high-performance radars.
Earlier, Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatâi said Moldova's current radiolocation systems were old and long overdue for replacement.
