“Starting January 1, 2027, new rules on defense procurement will come into force in Moldova. Parliament has already adopted a law allowing closed tenders and, in certain cases, direct negotiations with suppliers without a public announcement,” said Irina Vlah, leader of the Republican Party “Heart of Moldova,” TRIBUNA reports.

The politician said that when it comes to weapons or classified technologies, confidentiality is understandable. However, the new law also allows ordinary goods and services, as well as construction and repair works, to be kept out of public view.

“And this creates a huge risk of abuse. Especially since we are talking about increasingly larger sums. In five years, the budget of the Ministry of Defense has grown from one billion to more than two billion lei. The authorities want to increase military spending to 1% of GDP, which means that by 2030 the army’s budget could exceed 5 billion lei.

Where transparent rules and effective oversight are lacking, corruption and abuse quickly emerge. That is why Parliament must reconsider this law. Only information that genuinely concerns the country’s security should be classified. Everything else must be transparent and subject to public oversight,” she said.