It Is Not True that Macedonian Troops Will Fight the Russian Armed Forces in Pridnestrovye
30 years jubilee of the Army – central event, August 2022 Photo: mod.gov.mk
The post is spreading disinformation that Macedonian troops will be deployed to fight against the Russian Armed Forces in Pridnestrovye. The claim that our troops, instead of leaving for Romania, will depart for Moldova – that is not a NATO Member-State – is not substantiated with evidence at all. The Ministry of Defence – for Truthmeter – responded that the issue concerned was regular rotation of Army members within the framework of NATO multinational forces which has nothing to do with deploying Army troops outside the borders of the Alliance
The post published on the social network Facebook (screenshot here) claims that the troops sent by North Macedonia to Romania as part of NATO obligations are apparently going to end up in Moldova fighting against the Russian Armed Forces. This is not true.
What I warned about six months ago is actually happening. The Government is sending troops in the NATO operation in Romania.
I would like to know whether the soldiers were told that they will end up in Moldova, precisely in Pridnestrovye fighting against the Russian Armed Forces!
Upon the proposal of the Ministry of Defense, the Government at its 156 session adopted a Decision to send members of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia to participate in the battle group of NATO’s operation “Enhanced Vigilance Activity-еVA” in Romania for a period of six months, from June to December 2023.
This Government’s announcement is spreading on the social networks claiming that the soldiers will end up in Moldova, more precisely, in the secessionist part called Pridnestrovie to fight against the Russian Armed Forces, although told that they would be going to Romania.
Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic, known as Pridnestrovie or Transnistria is a pro-Russian region separated from Moldova (which not part of NATO) in the vicinity of Ukraine. The region – which is mainly Russian-speaking – secessated from the Soviet Republic of Moldavia at the time in 1990. After the colapse of the Soviet Union in 1991, the pro-Russian separatists were fighting a bloody battle with the Moldova government forces. The region Transnistria, mainly populated with Russians, seceded from Moldova in 1992, but is not recognized as a country internationally. The separatists in Transnistria are supported by a contingent of Russian troops stationed in the region.
Truthmeter addressed the Ministry of Defence to ask whether the claims on the social network Facebook are true and what exactly were our troops going to do during this operation.
The response was that regular rotation of military troops within the framework of the NATO multinational forces will take place and under no circumstances were military troops going to be deployed outside the borders of the Alliance and that such a contingent of soldiers is not sent to Romania for the first time.
We would like to remind you that military troops of the Republic of North Macedonia are part of the multinational forces of NATO – Alliance in Romania, as part of the NATO Enhanced Vigilance Activities (NATO eVA), for the purpose of strengthening its Eastern borders. The first Army contigent was sent to Romania towards the end of last year, and this is the second rotation within the framework of the same NATO multinational forces for the period June – December 2023, replied the Ministry of Defense.
“Enhanced Forward Presence” (eFP) on the North-East part of the Alliance was established for the first time in 2017 with the creation of four multinational battalion battlegoups in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania and Poland. These battlegroups, led by the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany and the United States, are respective in size and combat power. They demonstrate the power of the trans-Atlantic link and clearly indicate that the attack of one allie shall be treated as an attack of the entire Alliance.
Enhanced Vigilance Activities (eVA) refers to the deployment of multinational battlegroups in Bulgaria, Romania, Hungary and Slovakia.
The participation of the members of the Army of the Republic of North Macedonia within the framework of the NATO missions eFP (Efp) and eVA in Latvia and in Bulgaria and Romania is based on the decisions of the Government of the Republic of North Macedonia. Our contribution to the Canadian-led eFP mission began in June 2022 with a CBRN detachment, as well as an artillery detachment commencing operations in December 2022 within the Slovenian contigent engaged in Operation еVA. In the eVA mission, our contribution started from November 2022 with the dispatch of two platoons, one each in Bulgaria – a mission led by Italy, and in Romania – a mission led by France, where together with members of the allied Armed Forces, they are an integral part of the collective deterrence and defence system, states the website of the Ministry of Defence.
Under no circumstances in any of these operations has the Army of the North Macedonia clashed with Russian Armed Forces. All of these operations are performed on the territory of NATO Member-States. The claim that our troops will depart for Pridnestrovye instead of Romania is not substantiated with any evidence. It is just offered as someone’s opinion that later on becomes viral on the social networks.
According to the specified facts, the claim that Macedonian troops will be deployed to fight against Russian Armed Forces in Pridnestrovye is assessed as untrue.
This article was developed within the framework of the project “Promoting Access to Reliable News to Counter Disinformation”, implemented by the Metamorphosis Foundation. The article, which has been published on the Macedonian-language version of Truthmeter, was produced with the support of the American non-profit foundation NED (National Endowment for Democracy). The contents of the article is the responsibility of the author and do not always reflect the positions of Metamorphosis Foundation, NED or their partners.
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