CHISINAU, July 16. /TASS/. It is necessary to seek international recognition of Moldova’s neutrality, President Igor Dodon said on Tuesday.

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Speaking on Moldovan Accent TV, the politician came out against the country’s NATO membership while commenting on relations inside the ruling coalition and the government, formed by the Party of Socialists seeking closer ties with Russia and the pro-European Acum bloc.

"Some are speaking about NATO, but the neutrality principle is laid down in the constitution. And nobody will be joining NATO without us [the Socialists]," Dodon said.

He believes the country’s leadership must seek "international recognition of Moldova’s neutrality". "Work must be done towards this in order to convince all external partners," he specified, expressing confidence that this would be "the basis of the future Transnistrian settlement".

"We will continue the policy of small steps in the Transnistrian settlement, there is much work is still to be done. But time is needed to work well together with our partners to the right. Time is needed - half-a-year or a year," the president went on to say.

"If we see consensus of the Left and the Right, we will gain external support, respectively from the East and from the West. And we will be able to solve many problems, including the Transnistrian one," the president stressed.

Polls suggest that most of the country’s people are against NATO membership. Although the neutrality status is enshrined in the Moldovan constitution, the republic has been cooperating with NATO since 1994 within an individual partnership plan.

A NATO liaison office was opened in Chisinau in December 2017. Igor Dodon objected this move, saying Moldova’s dropping its neutral status would destabilize the situation not only in the country but in the entire Balkan region.