Moldovan Alumni hold Roundtable ‘Security through Cooperation: Current Issues in the Context of a New Draft National Security Strategy’.

On 24 November, 2015 the Moldovan alumni association held their annual roundtable event in Chisinau, at the Center of Culture and Military History. The Secretary of the Supreme Security Council of Moldova, Mr. Alex Barbaneagra, gave the opening address, followed by a video address by LTG (ret) Keith Dayton, Director of the Marshall Center. GCMC Alumni Relations Specialist Marc Johnson provided welcoming remarks to participants, speakers and guests.

The roundtable, chaired by COL (ret) Andrei Covrig, President, Moldova Alumni Association, consisted of a panel of experts led off by Dr. Valbona Zeneli, Marshall Center professor; Mr. Andrew Curararu, Member of the working group to develop Moldova’s new draft strategy; Mr. Gennady Altukhov, Minister Counsellor of the Embassy of Ukraine in Chisinau; Mr. Giorgi Gobechia, Chief Advisor, Office of The State Minister of Georgia for Reconciliation and Civic Equality, and Mr. Vitalie Varzari, Director of the Center for Strategic Studies and Security Academy of Sciences of Moldova.

Around 50 people attended the afternoon event. The roundtable was successful in examining several aspects of developing Moldova’s new Strategic Security Strategy, including the effort to ensure that multiple sectors (economic, agricultural, energy, cyber, etc.) were taken into consideration. The inclusion of civil society and a transparent drafting and ratification process was presented as well as the topic of reconciling the Security Strategy’s language with regard to association with NATO, with language in Moldova’s constitution that limits it to ‘Non-aligned’ status.  

The Marshall Center thanks the Moldovan Alumni Association, supported by the Ministry of Defense and the Center of Military Culture and History, the Embassy of Ukraine in the Republic of Moldova, The U.S Embassy, and Mr. Giorgi Gobechia, who came to speak from distant Georgia.This Roundtable was covered by local television and radio stations, who broadcast their stories immediately following the event.