Moldova Obtains Air Defence Radar From France’s Thales

Moldova said on Wednesday it had acquired an aerial surveillance system from French defence electronics maker Thales, a first step towards developing air defences after missile debris from the war in Ukraine was found on its territory.

Defence Minister Anatolie Nosatii said the surveillance system would be able to monitor the airspace of the entire country that borders Romania and Ukraine.

“We have no air defences, no missiles, no planes. The next step is a system of air defences for critical infrastructure, including the airport, power stations and so on. This is only the beginning,” Prime Minister Dorin Recean said.

Authorities in Moldova have reported finding missile debris in northern parts of the country at least four times since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in February 2022.

Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said the acquisition was Moldova’s first aerial surveillance system.

“Committed to building a safer, more prosperous future within the European family,” he wrote on social media platform X.

The European Union opened formal accession talks with Moldova and neighbouring Ukraine at a summit in Brussels last week, a step the pro-Western government in Chisinau said was historic.

Moldova gained independence from the Soviet Union in 1991 and its relations with Moscow have deteriorated during the war in Ukraine that Chisinau has staunchly condemned.

(Reporting by Alexander Tanas; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Kirsten Donovan)