Irina Vlah, leader of the Republican Party “Inima Moldovei”, has stated that the implementation program for the National Defense Strategy, recently approved by the Tofan Government, demonstrates a shift in the government’s priorities toward increasing military spending instead of investing in culture, youth, and other socially important sectors.

According to the politician, the Government’s decision to raise defense spending to 1% of Moldova’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2030 is a misguided policy at a time when the country is facing numerous social and economic challenges.

“At first glance, this figure may not seem alarming. However, it is important to understand what it actually means. Moldova’s nominal GDP this year is projected at approximately 366 billion lei. One percent of that amounts to around 3.6 billion lei. The current budget of the Ministry of Defense stands at about 2 billion lei, meaning that military spending would effectively almost double,” Irina Vlah said.

She also noted that, according to earlier projections, Moldova’s nominal GDP could reach approximately 550 billion lei by 2030, meaning that defense expenditures at 1% of GDP would total roughly 5.5 billion lei.

According to the leader of “Inima Moldovei”, these figures should be compared with funding allocated to other essential sectors.

“The 2026 state budget allocates just over 1 billion lei to environmental protection, 1.89 billion lei to culture, sports, youth policy, and religious affairs, and approximately 1.5 billion lei to housing and public utilities. This means that planned military spending could exceed the combined funding allocated to several sectors that directly affect people’s quality of life,” Vlah stated.

The politician also linked the increase in defense spending to the Government’s fiscal policy.

“The authorities previously announced plans to raise an additional 6 billion lei annually through higher taxes on citizens and businesses. This raises an obvious question: why are these additional funds not being directed toward supporting people, education, culture, sports, environmental protection, and improving living conditions, but instead redirected to military expenditures?” the party leader said.

Irina Vlah called on the authorities to reconsider their priorities and focus on areas that, in her view, are essential to Moldova’s future.

“People, culture, sports, environmental protection, young people, and social development should come first. These are the sectors that build Moldova’s future,” emphasized Irina Vlah, leader of the Republican Party “Inima Moldovei.”