Moldova's outgoing President Nicolae Timofti on Thursday signed the decree for ratifying the agreement on setting up a NATO Liaison Office in Chisinau, capital of Moldova.

The agreement was signed by Prime Minister Pavel Filip and NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg at the NATO headquarters late November when Filip visited Brussels.

The new office is a civilian one and not a military base, stressed then Stoltenberg, adding that the office in Chisinau could be inaugurated in spring 2017.

Moldova's President-elect Igor Dodon, who is to take office on Dec. 23, has repeatedly stressed his opposition to the plan.

Dodon criticized the authorities had deliberately pushed back his investiture as head of state so that they could fast track a number of projects, including the ratification of the agreement to open the NATO office in the country.

"I will strongly oppose any attempt to involve Moldova in the orbit of any military alliances, including NATO," he stated soon after the signing of the agreement in Brussels.

Negotiations on opening of a NATO liaison office in Chisinau began in 2014.

The official relations between NATO and Moldova began in 1992 when the latter joined the North Atlantic Cooperation Council. Relations expanded when Moldova joined the Partnership for Peace program in 1994.