Moldovan parliament approves denouncement of another 3 CIS agreements
CHISINAU. Feb 15 (Interfax) - The Moldovan parliament passed a bill denouncing another three Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) agreements in the first reading on Thursday.
Members of the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS) voted for the bill, while the opposition demanded removing it from the agenda but was denied support.
The bill denounces the agreement On Principles of the Provision of the CIS Armed Forces with Hardware and Supplies and the Organization of Operations of Maintenance Plants and Research and Development Activity (signed in Minsk on February 14, 1992), the agreement On Cooperation in Supply and Logistic Support to Agencies Countering Terrorism and Other Types of Violent Extremism (signed in Ashgabat on December 5, 2012), and the agreement on Military Observer Groups and Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the CIS (signed in Kiev on March 20, 1992) with the related protocol.
Moldovan Security and Intelligence Service Director Alexandru Musteata noted that the counterterrorism agreement addressed exclusively technical issues and did not concern the fight against terrorism.
"This agreement pertains exclusively to the purchase and sale of specialized equipment and does not concern the fight against terrorism in any way," Musteata said.
"The document does not work, and Moldova has not benefited from this document in any way," he added.
The Moldovan government said in January 2024 it had designated 119 CIS agreements as those of no value to Moldova and started preparations for the denouncement of 79 of them. Back in 2023, the Moldovan parliament denounced 55 CIS agreements, including 36 whose legal implications were terminated with the consent of the CIS Secretariat. In all, Moldova signed 282 agreements in the CIS.
Moldovan Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu said in February 2023 that Moldova was beginning the withdrawal from several dozen CIS agreements. In May, the Moldovan parliament approved the withdrawal from the agreement On the Establishment of the Mir Interstate Television and Radio Company, and the convention On the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly was denounced in July.
The Moldovan Finance Ministry decided in early November that Chisinau would stop paying contributions to the CIS and associated organizations in 2024. The ministry decided that the funds allotted for paying annual contributions to international organizations in 2023 would be cut by 16 million lei (about $900,000), from 66.5 million to 50.5 million lei. The ministry noted that the Moldovan state budget contributed almost 35 million lei (about $1.8 million) to the CIS and associated organizations over the past four years.