Moldova to leave CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly on Feb 8 - Matviyenko

BISHKEK. Nov 17 (Interfax) - Moldova will finalize its withdrawal from the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on February 8, and that would be a great loss for Chisinau, Federation Council speaker Valentina Matviyenko said.

"The procedure will be finalized on February 8 following Moldova's announcement of its withdrawal from the Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. Starting from February 8, Moldova will officially stop being a member of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly. No harm will be done to our assembly, the assembly will keep working. Of course, this is a huge loss for Moldova," Matviyenko told reporters on the sidelines of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly session in Bishkek on Friday.

The CIS stands for the Commonwealth of Independent States, while Moldova "has stopped being an independent state, has been under external control, and has been speaking with somebody else's voice" since President Maia Saudi came to office, Matviyenko said.

"Far from all citizens, to say nothing of a majority, share the policy of the administration embedded by the West and which has foreign citizenship," she said.

This is proven by the recent elections at various levels in Moldova, Matviyenko said.

"This course is not supported by a majority, since numerous Moldovan citizens are in favor of mutually beneficial cooperation with Russia, which is advantageous for Moldova in the first instance," she said.

In February, Foreign Affairs and European Integration Minister Nicu Popescu said that Moldova would start withdrawing from several dozen CIS agreements.

Moldova was a signatory to around 330 CIS agreements, many of which needed revision, he said. In May, the country's parliament approved Moldova's withdrawal from the agreement on the establishment of the Mir interstate television and radio company, and the Convention of the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly was denounced in July.

While discussing Moldova's withdrawal from the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in July, Moldovan Parliament speaker, leader of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity Igor Grosu said, "The country should distance itself from the CIS in order to accelerate the process of integration with the European Union."

The Moldovan parliament denounced over 20 CIS agreements during the spring and summer session.