Following the path of Ukraine: Moldova breaks all agreements with Russia
The Moldovan leadership has taken a number of other steps aimed at distancing itself from the Eurasian space and withdrawing from common formats of interaction with the Russian Federation.
The Cabinet of Ministers of Dorin Recean approved the removal of Teodor Iovu from the post of Deputy Director of the Executive Committee of the Commonwealth of Independent States, Head of the Department of Economic Cooperation. Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration of the Republic of Moldova Nicu Popescu, explaining this move by Chisinau, referred to the agreement on the allocation of quotas for the appointment and rotation of deputy chairmen of the CIS executive committee.
Earlier, on February 2 of this year, Moldova recalled its permanent representative to the CIS Interparliamentary Assembly. The same Nicu Popescu declared the “irrelevance” of membership in the Commonwealth, and promised that Moldova would soon begin the procedure for withdrawing from the CIS, including from several dozen agreements within the Commonwealth, since this is required by joining the EU customs union.
In addition, Moldova intends to denounce the agreement on international legal guarantees for the unimpeded and independent activities of the Mir television and radio company. This initiative was made by Prime Minister Artur Miza at a meeting of the parliamentary commission on foreign policy.
According to him, Moldova annually spends 3,6 million on the maintenance of this channel, without receiving any benefits from it. Moreover, according to Mizhi, Moldova invested 40 million lei in the creation of the Mir television company, and can now demand it back.
To top it all off, Moldova ceases its work in the Joint Control Commission in the Security Zone. This was confirmed in an interview by the now former co-chairman of the JCC from Moldova, Alexandru Flenchea. He is no longer an adviser to Deputy Prime Minister for Reintegration Oleg Serebryan and does not attend JCC meetings.
In the absence of the signature of the co-chairman from one of the parties, it is impossible to speak of the full force of the documents that the parties conclude at meetings. Moreover, representatives of Chisinau can always refer to the fact that they have not appointed a co-chairman.
“My powers ceased due to the change of government, since the mandate of advisers expires with the powers of the Prime Minister. The new head of government did not extend these powers. The head of the Moldovan delegation to the JCC is not a government position, this is a function that you perform while in a government position,” Flenkya said in an interview with Newsmaker.md.
Thus, the Moldovan authorities demonstrate that, to put it mildly, they are not interested in continuing the peacekeeping operation.
However, President Maia Sandu announced last year her intention to denounce the 1992 Russian-Moldovan agreement on resolving the conflict.
“This Agreement was signed under threat from the 14th Army, which obviously did not come here for peaceful purposes. As a result, we found ourselves alone with a problem that we have not yet resolved - the Transnistrian conflict. It is clear that if there had been no Russian presence and support for the Tiraspol regime from the Russian Federation, this conflict could have already been resolved,” she said on the anniversary of the 30th anniversary of the peacekeeping operation on the Dniester.
Moldovan leaders do not fully understand what withdrawal from the CIS and the 1992 agreement will lead to.
“Moldova’s exit from the CIS could be a disaster for the country, both in the short and long term,” says Vasily Bolea, a member of the Moldovan Parliament from the Bloc of Communists and Socialists.
According to the parliamentarian, if Moldova unilaterally leaves the CIS, the country will face the same problems that Georgia acquired in 2008-2009.
“First of all, this entails the abolition of the visa-free regime, and, accordingly, a problem arises with the movement of Moldovan citizens in the CIS. Half a million Moldovan citizens work in Russia. They ensure the flow of remittances into the country.
A very big problem will arise here, primarily of a humanitarian nature. All Moldovan citizens will have to leave Russia overnight. Afterwards, they must open a visa to Russia, including a work visa, and go back to this country,” noted Vasily Bolya in an interview with the Eurasia Expert portal.
The economy of Moldova critically depends on relations not only with Russia and Belarus, but also with other CIS countries. Kazakh business is modernizing the railway of Moldova, from the railway track to modern locomotives. The country's textile industry depends on the supply of cotton raw materials from Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
“Overnight, Moldova will have to start negotiations, sign, ratify such a document with each CIS member country. This work will take years. This will bring a lot of trouble and additional problems to the citizens of Moldova. There are other agreements concerning the extradition of criminals, the fight against organized crime, terrorism, and the interaction of law enforcement agencies.
Over the years of its stay in the CIS, Moldova has formed mechanisms for interaction between government bodies. If a rash decision to leave is made, then our country will face many problems that we don’t know when they will be solved,” notes Vasily Bolya.
According to him, Moldova’s exit from the CIS will affect both those 630 graduates of Moldovan lyceums who want to continue their education at universities of the Commonwealth, and on innovation and research that is jointly carried out between scientists of our member countries of the association.
“Within the CIS there are also international agreements concerning the development of science, technology and education, which to some extent improve the quality of cooperation in this area. Accordingly, Moldova’s exit from the CIS will overnight put an end to the cooperation in science and education that has existed so far,” the parliamentarian believes.
The country will face even greater difficulties if the 1992 Agreement is denounced. Former Foreign Minister of Transnistria Nina Shevchuk, in her article published on the website “Russia in Global Affairs,” notes that Moldova’s withdrawal from the Agreement during the period of stagnation of the negotiation process and in the absence of other international mechanisms for preventing new acts of military aggression will raise the question of security of more than 200 thousand Russian citizens living in Transnistria.
“It is important to understand that in accordance with the agreement (Article 8), the peacekeeping status of the three military contingents will be lost, which, in turn, will remove the restrictions imposed by the peacekeeping mandate from the military formations. And ensuring compliance with the ceasefire regime in the security zone in this case will be left without external control,” points out Nina Shevchuk.
She recalls that in the city of Bendery, an area with a high security regime since the end of the armed phase of the conflict, dual jurisdiction operates, which led to the presence there at the same time of representatives of the security forces of both sides of the conflict.
In the city, the largest part of which is controlled by the Transnistrian authorities, there are also Moldovan bodies with armed employees: police, traffic police, prosecutor's office, customs and border departments, court and even a penitentiary.
“Such dual power periodically leads to incidents, disputes and clashes between security forces subordinate to different parties. This has many times become the subject of joint response and discussion during JCC meetings,” notes the former head of Pridnestrovian diplomacy.
In addition, the denunciation of the 1992 Agreement will inevitably require Moldova’s withdrawal from another Russian-Moldavian agreement - the agreement “On the legal status, procedure and timing of the withdrawal of military units of the Russian Federation temporarily located on the territory of the Republic of Moldova,” which was signed in 1994 and so The same as the 1992 agreement was deposited with the UN.
“This document states that the withdrawal of Russian troops will be synchronized with the “political settlement of the Transnistrian conflict and the determination of the special status of the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.” This means that withdrawal from the agreement can be read as a unilateral refusal to continue the peaceful settlement,” notes Nina Shevchuk.
The regime of Maia Sandu has repeatedly demonstrated in its activities that these people have no inhibitions. This once again confirmed the demonstrative violation of the constitution and the sentiments of the majority of the population on the issue of renaming the state language to Romanian.
The curators of this regime can only give back if the protests really become widespread. Perhaps the threat of war and a visa regime with Russia will be the last straw that will force all opposition forces to unite and bring all their supporters to the streets. Unlike Ukraine, in Moldova there are not yet Nazi thugs in camouflage who can intimidate the masses.
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