Moldova President Accused of Risking Soldiers’ Health in Moscow

Moldova's President has been criticised for sending soldiers to Moscow to join the Victory Day parade on June 24, despite the potential risks to their health in Russia - one of the worst affected countries in the world by COVID-19.

Moldova will send 75 soldiers to the Red Square parade, one of the largest number of soldiers ever used for such an event.

"A contingent of the National Army will participate in the June 24, 2020 parade in Moscow. The soldiers are from the Honour Guard Company, which represents Moldova in various parades. They have participated in similar parades in Romania, Ukraine, France, Bulgaria, Lithuania," Ala Diaconu, press officer for the Defence Ministry, said.

She underlined that the soldiers would go to Moscow at the behest of President Igor Dodon, supreme commander of the armed forces. Asked about possible risks to the soldiers, Diaconu replied: "All protective measures will be taken."

But two former defence ministers said their participation should be cancelled. "With his decision to send 75 soldiers to Moscow, Dodon is exposing the national army to infection with COVID-19. It is known that Russia is a leader in infections," former defence minister Anatol Salaru said.

"The real situation with the pandemic … and the organisational costs, are enough reasons for not attending the parade," another ex-defence minister, Viorel Cibotaru, added.

After Romania abandoned its alliance with Nazi Germany in 1944, the Soviet Union took back what was then called Bessarabia, now Moldova, and annexed it to the USSR. Moldovan soldiers were duly incorporated into the Red Army.

Parades by Moldovan soldiers in Moscow or elsewhere are often the subject of political disputes in Moldova, and depend mostly on who holds the...