Moldova terminates two CIS agreements, PM orders preparations for withdrawal from CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly
CHISINAU. May 17 (Interfax) - The Moldovan government has denounced two agreements signed by Moldova within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), one of them concerning the exchange of information on guarding common CIS borders signed on April 12, 1996, and the other on general terms for supplying goods between CIS countries' organizations signed on March 20, 1992.
Moldovan Interior Minister Ana Revenco said the first of these agreements is irrelevant to Moldova, as the mechanisms stipulated in it have not been properly put into effect, and if necessary Moldova would address problems in guarding CIS external borders with other member states on a bilateral basis.
"Since Ukraine is also withdrawing from the CIS, the idea of an external CIS border is also becoming irrelevant," Revenco said.
Moldova has scrapped the latter agreement because it "follows market economy principles, with economic agents interacting with each other based on individual contracts and without any state interference," Revenco said.
Chisinau views the agreement as outdated and inconsistent with current realities in relations between countries. After Moldova notifies the CIS Executive Committee of its decision to denounce the agreement, it will take effect 12 months later.
Revenco told journalists later in the day that Moldova intended to denounce 10 of the 39 CIS agreements related to the Interior Ministry's work.
"At present, 39 agreements signed within the CIS framework at the Interior Ministry level are in effect. Based on an analysis conducted, from the standpoint of prospects and risks, we have determined that ten of them are sterile and unnecessary, and therefore, the process of their denouncement has been started now," she said.
Speaking at a government meeting on Wednesday, Prime Minister Dorin Recean instructed the Foreign Ministry and the state chancellery to prepare documents for beginning Moldova's withdrawal from the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly.
Recean reasoned that Moldova's CIS membership does not help it resolve problems. "We haven't managed to settle the Transdniestria conflict. The Russian army is still illegally stationed in Moldova. Being part of the CIS hasn't protected us from an economic embargo," Recean said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu said in February 2022 that Moldova was beginning its withdrawal from CIS agreements. Moldova is a signatory to about 330 CIS agreements, and many of them require revision, he said.
Moldova recalled its representative to the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in February 2023. Last week, the Moldovan parliament voted to withdraw from a CIS agreement on founding the Mir television and radio company.