Moldovan defence minister tackles military institution-political factor relation

Interview given by Defence Minister Viorel Cibotaru exclusively to the MOLDPRES News Agency.

From the very beginning, Cibotaru wanted to emphasize that the position of political analyst, in which he has been known so far, remained in the past. Once sworn in the office of defence minister, he should be associated with a political person, heading a team focused on implementing the state's defence and security policies. Proceeding from this statement by the interlocutor, we started the dialogue from priorities of new defence minister…

-          I am not a new person in the army, as I have worked here, I am a retired colonel, I was involved in more projects on reforming the security sector etc. Surely, while accepting the defence minister position, I had ideas of reorganizing the military institution in the sense of turning it more efficient. Especially now when, following the events in Ukraine, we have a quite strained situation in the region.

Proceeding from this, we will continue to put emphasis on training troops,  - an action initiated by the National Army’s military leadership one year ago. Compared to previous years, we will earmark more sources from the austere military budget we have to implement different projects and programmes on training troops.

Moreover, to optimize the expenses, we will make changes in the structure of the military institution, including optimizing or reducing some positions and subdivisions representing a lumber for the army, generating only expenses. These optimizations refer to the central offices of the Defence Ministry and the General Staff, force commands etc.

-          Mr. minister, any plan is good when it’s on paper. But practically, it is carried out by people. Now you are talking again about optimizations, i.e. axes… The servicemen anyway have lost a lot of facilities over the last years. So, what will you do with the social package? 

-          Indeed, the social insurance of military staff remains to be, along with training troops, one of the main concerns of the defence ministry’s leadership. In this context, we are currently working on elaborating and submitting an entire set of amendments to the legislation in force, providing for both return of social rights of servicemen and establishing new ones. It is also about food ration and paying for rent of living space and payments for military equipment etc.

To meet these goals, we rely on the support both of Moldova’s top officials and local authorities of all levels. The events from Ukraine prove us once again that the problem on ensuring state security must be a concern not only of the defence ministry’s leadership or the country, but of all citizens. In this context, we intend to come up with programmes on military education at all levels – pre-university institutions, higher education ones, etc. Today, as never before, our society needs a full reset in terms of education. I believe that the education of citizens in patriotic spirit is not less important than re-equipment of the army with modern technology.

-          Talking about technical equipment, we must recognize that these programmes are just declarative, taking into account the current military budget …

-          The military budget scheduled for the army in 2015, worth 0.3 per cent of GDP, does not allow us implementing programmes on re-equipment of troops, global changes of equipment etc. And here, we must realize the economic situation in the country… In these conditions, I believe that we should fruitify at a maximum the potential of bilateral ties with partners or military assistance programmes that are accessible. Moreover, we need a reset of our visions on methods and procedures of contemporary warfare. If we analyse the development of events in different conflict -stricken areas, we notice that technologies and digital systems are in the forefront more and more. So, proceeding from the need to modernize and re-equip the army, we have to focus not only on armored vehicles, guns or something like that. We need a technological explosion…

-          Okay, Mr.Minister, we admit that the explosion has occurred. Who will enforce it, if calling up of young people with secondary education for military service is considered a success… By the way, army's professionalization is stipulated in the government action programme. How real is this?

- I have always been a supporter of the mixed system of completion of the National Army. And not for reasons that only economically developed states can afford a completely professional army. I return again to the example of Ukraine, which faced the problem of trained reserve at a certain time. I understand that somebody may declare me a militarist, yet a thing remains doubtless – at present, only the army is the institution which trains the youth for defending the Motherland of for actions in crisis situations and calamities in Moldova. On these grounds, the Defence Ministry will come up with a proposal to introduce, at least optionally, the military training in the education institutions.     

Coming back to your question, I want to assure you that we have trained staff in all specialties – a thing proved by Moldovan servicemen both within peacekeeping operations and in international exercises. Presently, the National Army is completed with professional staff at a level of 50-60 per cent.

- Mr. Cibotaru, you are a politically appointed minister to a political structure. Where politics ends in the army and where the army starts making “politics”?

- Yes, I am a member of the Liberal Democratic Party from Moldova, but I find wrong the perception of this fact as an involvement of the political factor in the army. I am not going to politicize the army or allow organisation of political activities on the territory of military units. In my capacity of defence minister, I am in a position of an interlocutor between the military institution and the political factor – parliament, government, etc. Moreover, in the present situation, all of us are obliged to promote a single policy – the one of ensuring the independence and flourishing of Moldova. And this must be the prerogative of each citizen or official, no matter the political or class affiliation.

- Thank you for the interview.

(Reporter V. Rusu, editor A. Raileanu)