President warns to penalize decision-makers in charge of departure of Moldovan soldiers to drills in Ukraine

Chisinau, 03 October /MOLDPRES/ – The head of state, Igor Dodon, announced that he would penalize the decision-makers in charge for the departure of Moldovan soldiers to drills in Ukraine. The statement was made following a working meeting with the National Army commander today.

The president specified that for violating his order banning the participation of Moldovan soldiers in exercises in Ukraine, "the leadership of the Ministry of Defence will be demoted, as soldiers and ordinary officers are not guilty" of leaving for exercises in the neighbouring state.

"The persons who did not comply with order should be penalized. That is what we discussed at the first working session under the leadership of the Supreme Commander of the Armed Forces today. At the meeting, commanders from all subdivisions were invited from all over the country to report on the state of things in each military unit. Later, I came with some appreciation, including the situation at the Ministry of Defence," said Igor Dodon.

"We indicated stopping any movement of assets from the Ministry of Defence to other institutions, because there has been a risk the asset of the institution to being sold. Also, by the end of the week, I will sign an initiative to return to the social package for militaries that are in a very difficult situation," said the head of state, not specifying from which financial sources the social packages would be purchased.

On the other hand, Deputy Defence Minister, Gheorghe Galbura, said that he did not violate anything when he ordered the displacement of the troops in Ukraine because he acted on the basis of the Government decision. "Mr. President said that measures would be taken against those who did not fulfill his order, I think he referred to me, but he did not tell me anything personally. I have fulfilled the government's decision so that we decided that our soldiers should go to the training course. If he thinks I broke it, he can take action. I acted according to the law in force and I did not violate anything," said Galbura.

The government approved in early September the decision regarding the participation of a contingent of Moldovan soldiers at the "Rapid Trident" training course in Ukraine. Soon the head of state suspended the Government's decision, but the military acted on the basis of the Executive's decision and left for the drills in the bordering country.

(Reporter A. Ciobanu, editor A. Raileanu)