12 Jan 2023 13:12

Moldova analyzing expediency of further membership in CIS - FM

CHISINAU. Jan 12 (Interfax) - Moldova "is analyzing the expediency of further membership in the CIS" and does not see any processes in the Commonwealth of Independent States that could be of interest to it, Moldovan Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu said.

"Hundreds of various documents have been signed in the CIS, and the Foreign Affairs and European Integration Ministry and other ministries are analyzing them. Soon enough, we will have a clear idea which elements of these international agreements we still need and which have run their course," Popescu said on the TV8 channel.

"We do not see any processes in the CIS that could meet Moldova's interests. Time has passed, and the organization has become less relevant to us. The free-trade area is not working, there have been problems with the access of our goods since 2006, and there are trade restrictions on our exports," he said.

Popescu said that Moldovan representatives have taken no part in CIS meetings since the end of February 2022.

As for relations with Russia, he said they are being maintained exclusively at the level of embassies.

Journalists asked Popescu about a meeting of the Moldovan-Russian intergovernmental commission on trade and economic cooperation. The meeting was planned for March 2022 but did not happen because of the hostilities in Ukraine, he replied.