FBA contributes to strengthening resilience against hybrid threats in Moldova

“Last week, we conducted a two-day workshop bringing together 16 authorities from Moldova’s defence and security sector. The aim was to jointly exercise responses to hybrid threats and strengthen the country’s democratic resilience based on a shared situational awareness,” says Fredrik Konnander, an FBA Senior Specialist.

In recent years, Russia has waged an increasingly intense hybrid campaign to counter Moldova’s pro-European trajectory and is identified in the National Security Strategy as the country’s primary threat. This marks a significant shift for Moldova, a former Soviet republic that still hosts the breakaway region of Transnistria on its territory, where a Russian military presence remains.

The attacks include cyber operations, sabotage, economic and energy coercion, widespread vote-buying, all supported by continuous disinformation campaigns. Russian hybrid activities exploit existing vulnerabilities and aim to sow societal division, as well as to disrupt democratic institutions and their decision-making processes.

“Moldova is on the frontline of a hybrid war and is regularly exposed to influence operations intended to undermine the country’s security and democratic development. This places high demands on Moldovan authorities to act in a coordinated, effective and long-term manner, which is why strengthening this capacity is so important,” says Sara Eliasi Swahn, an FBA Senior Specialist.

Moldova is constitutionally neutral but has long cooperated with NATO. Bilateral cooperation began in 1994 when Moldova joined the Partnership for Peace programme. Russia’s annexation of Crimea in 2014, combined with the growing intensity of hybrid threats, has led NATO to increase its support to Moldova, including a tailored defence capacity-building programme.

Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 continues to have a strongly destabilising effect, also on Moldova. Russian missiles and drones regularly violate Moldovan airspace, and more than one million Ukrainian refugees have passed through the country, whose own population numbers just over three million.

Moldova has also pursued reforms based on its 2014 Association Agreement with the European Union, and shortly after Russia’s full-scale invasion of neighbouring Ukraine in 2022, both countries were granted EU candidate status in June of the same year.

“With support from the EU, Sweden, NATO and other partners, Moldova has strengthened its democratic resilience. At the same time, its proximity to Ukraine and developments in the region have a strong impact, which is reflected in the future scenarios exercised during the workshop,” says Kicki Westin, an FBA Specialist.

Moldova has strengthened its legislation, established new authorities, and developed policies and strategies across several key areas to better prevent, prepare for and manage complex and evolving security challenges. In this work, hybrid threats and disinformation have been identified as core priorities and integrated into national policies and institutional reforms. Taken together, these measures aim to improve coordination, enhance preparedness and strengthen Moldova’s overall resilience against multidimensional and cross-sectoral threats.

Cooperation with NATO is a central element of FBA’s efforts to address hybrid threats. The workshop also included a contribution from The Psychological Defence Agency, who delivered a session on information manipulation.

Key facts: NATO Programmes in Moldova

The Defence and Related Security Capacity Building (DCB) Initiative is a NATO programme that provides strategic advice and practical assistance to partners, such as Moldova, helping them build capacity in areas where NATO has expertise. It seeks to enable the creation of viable, effective and resilient defence institutions in NATO partners, and is tailored to the specific needs of partners. Activities can range from strategic-level advice on defence and related security reform and institution-building, to practical assistance on defence capability and local forces development, as well as specific projects in support of these objectives.

In addition, the Professional Development Programme (PDP) assists interested partner countries in developing the professional skills of civilian personnel employed in their defence and security institutions, increasing the effectiveness of civil and democratic control of security forces.

The PDP Programme works with the legislative and executive branches to:

• increase the professional skills of key civilian specialists responsible for national security and managing reforms;

• contribute to increasing the resilience of state institutions by focusing on the skills of personnel responsible for addressing security challenges;

• build the capacity of professional development agencies, in this way directly contributing to establishing self-sustaining local training capacities for the defence and security sectors;

• address sectoral requirements including effective implementation of specific reform concepts and strategies.

Defence and Related Security Capacity Building Initiative | NATO Topic

https://www.nato.int/en/what-we-do/partnerships-and-cooperation/partnership-programmes-and-tools