Moldova: How the French army secured the summit within range of Russian missile launches

William Molinié, edited by Alexandre Dalifard / Photo credit: NICOLAS ECONOMOU / NURPHOTO / NURPHOTO VIA AFP 06:15, 02 June 2023

Emmanuel Macron returned tonight in France after a stop in Moldova that hosted the second summit of the European political community. The place, quite a symbol, was only 30km from the Ukrainian border. 45 European leaders, including Volodymyr Zelensky, gathered for a family reunion as a message of unity to Vladimir Putin.

A summit under very high surveillance that Europe 1 was able to follow. And what emerges is that in all discretion, French military and intelligence resources were deployed to secure this meeting.

The French Air Force on guard

A French Air Force patrol held an alert throughout the summit. According to information from Europe 1, these are two Mirage 2000-5 fighters and a tanker plane, ready to intercept any suspicious aircraft in the Moldovan sky. An airspace closed for the occasion to civil aviation and drones. In addition, a NATO AWACS, this intelligence radar aircraft, has also been deployed. Operation "Air Bastion" involved more than 200 Moldovan, Romanian and allied soldiers. The France has also provided short-range surface-to-air assets, a senior officer said.

>> READ ALSO - Globsec Forum: what to remember from Emmanuel Macron's speech in Bratislava

Enough to show Eastern Europe the ability of France to take control of a possible common air defense in Europe. Highly sensitive subject with the Germans who put forward their own industrial solutions. Upstream, the Westerners trained Moldovan soldiers in ground combat in order to detect potential separatist commandos from pro-Russian Transnistria, only 20km away. Finally, the France has also invested in the cyber field to help Moldova counter possible cyber attacks orchestrated from Moscow.