The need for an integrated approach towards a security strategy at national, regional and European level was the focus of today’s discussions held by Minister of Internal Affairs Ana REVENCO and her Slovak counterpart Roman MIKULEC. The review of the old internal affairs approach, which can no longer be limited to the traditional competences of law enforcement, is required by realities that are increasingly outlining a new European security architecture.
’We as well as the Republic of Moldova are under enormous pressure because of the hybrid war. Unfortunately, there are too many citizens who are not even aware that they are victims of hybrid instruments of manipulation’ stated Interior Minister Roman MIKULEC.
The official also noted that precisely for these reasons, the Slovak Republic is very interested at this stage to take over the best practices of fighting a hybrid war from the Republic of Moldova, a country that has more than a year of experience in countering it, showing an impressive level of resilience.
The Ministry of Internal Affairs is implementing contingency plans that go beyond the classical understanding of the internal affairs system until recently, in addition to the constant assessments of the EU Support HUB’s experts in Chisinau, who analyse and make proposals to anticipate and prevent hybrid attacks. The Slovak officials were keen to become active partners on the Support HUB platform, not least in order to take over lessons learned by Moldova in this field and to strengthen their own capabilities to counter hybrid threats at an early stage.
Discussions between the MIA’s team and the delegation of the Slovak Minister of Interior confirmed that this approach is the only one that offers a chance to gain ground in the face of the multiple crises that have been unleashed throughout Europe since the beginning of the Russian Federation’s military aggression in Ukraine: disinformation, cyber-attacks, false bomb alerts, propaganda, energy blackmail, all of which directly affect the public order and security climate of each country, but also of the whole of Europe.
The Moldovan officials received in turn the confirmation and openness to take over valuable expertise of their Slovak colleagues in the field of fighting cross-border crime, arms and drug trafficking and digitized state border surveillance.
It should be recalled that Slovakia was one of the first EU countries to ratify the Moldova-EU Association Agreement. During today’s meeting, the Slovak Minister of Interior reaffirmed the commitment and openness to support by all means the MIA’s efforts to implement the roadmap in the field of home affairs for the country’s EU accession.
The only way to gain ground in the face of an ongoing hybrid war is to work together. Moldova and Slovakia will meet on the EU Support HUB platform to exchange valuable data and experiences through a common understanding of what the new European security strategy means.
