Less Than Quarter Of Moldovan Citizens Support Country's Potential NATO Membership - Poll

Less Than Quarter of Moldovan Citizens Support Country's Potential NATO Membership - Poll

Only 23 percent of Moldovan citizens would support the idea of their country joining NATO if Moldova held a referendum on the issue, a poll carried out by the US International Republican Institute (IRI) revealed on Friday

CHISINAU (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 16th November, 2018) Only 23 percent of Moldovan citizens would support the idea of their country joining NATO if Moldova held a referendum on the issue, a poll carried out by the US International Republican Institute (IRI) revealed on Friday.

According to the results of the poll, a total of 35 percent of the respondents said that they would not approve of the country's potential NATO membership, while another 19 percent of the Moldovan citizens have not decided yet on their position and 23 percent of the respondents do not intend to vote at all if such a referendum is held.

The poll was carried out among 1,503 people between September 11 and October 16, with the margin of error being no more than 2.5 percent.

The country's constitution states that Moldova is a neutral state, meaning that it does not align itself with political groups. However, Moldova has been engaged in bilateral cooperation with NATO under the Partnership for Peace (PfP) program since 1994. A civilian NATO Liaison Office was opened in the country's capital in 2017. Moldova, in turn, has contributed more than 40 troops to the alliance's Kosovo Force (KFOR).