Moldova not planning to withdraw from CIS economic, social protection, healthcare agreements

CHISINAU. Jan 14 (Interfax) - Moldova's withdrawal from agreements with the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) will not apply to economic affairs, social protection and healthcare, Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popsoi said.

"All our institutions are analyzing agreements signed within the CIS framework. The withdrawal process will be continued. However, it will not apply to documents signed in the fields of economy, social protection and healthcare. They will not be revoked as long as Moldovan citizens benefit from them," Popsoi said in an interview with Radio Moldova on Tuesday.

The CIS agreements Moldova withdrew from were of no use to Moldovan citizens, Popsoi said. "Moldova has revoked 66 agreements with the CIS to date: 58 of them have been terminated and another 50 are at various stages of the termination process," he said.

In February 2023, then Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said Moldova would withdraw from several dozen CIS agreements. Moldova was a party to 282 CIS agreements at the time.

In May 2023, the Moldovan parliament voted to withdraw from the agreement establishing the Mir television and radio company. In July 2023, Chisinau withdrew from the convention on the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.

Later on, the Moldovan Finance Ministry decided to stop paying membership fees to the CIS and related agencies starting from 2024.