Moldova withdraws from 3 CIS defense, security agreements

CHISINAU. Feb 29 (Interfax) - The Moldovan parliament on Thursday passed bills on terminating three more agreements signed within the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) framework, the decision was supported by parliamentarians from the ruling Party of Action and Solidarity (PAS).

Opposition lawmakers insisted that these items be removed from the agenda, but their proposals were declined by the majority of votes.

Thus, Moldova has withdrawn from the agreement On Principles of Providing the Armed Forces of the CIS Countries with Equipment and Material Resources, Organizing Operations of Repair Companies, and Research and Development Work, signed in Minsk on February 14, 1992. Arguing for its termination, the Moldovan Defense Ministry said the agreement did not work and was irrelevant, as Moldova did not maintain military-political interaction on the CIS platform.

Moldova also terminated an agreement on groups of military observers and collective peacekeeping forces under the CIS umbrella, signed in Kiev on March 20, 1992, along with a protocol on a provisional procedure for forming and using groups of military observers and collective peacekeeping forces in zones of conflict between and in CIS member states. The Defense Ministry deemed Moldova's further participation in this agreement to be unreasonable.

The third document severed by Moldova is an agreement on cooperation on logistical support for bodies combating terrorism and other violent manifestations of extremism, signed in Ashgabat on December 5, 2012.

Security and Intelligence Service (SIS) Director Alexandru Musteata suggested that the CIS agreement on combating terrorism covered purely technical aspects and did not affect practical cooperation in this field.

"This treaty only concerns the procurements and sales of special equipment and will not affect anti-terrorist efforts in any way," Musteata said.

"The treaty doesn't work, and Moldova hasn't received any benefits from this document," he said.

The Moldovan government announced in January 2024 that it identified 119 CIS agreements that were of no value to Chisinau and started preparations for severing 79 of them.

In 2023, the Moldovan parliament terminated 55 CIS agreements, and the termination of all legal effects of 36 of them was agreed upon with the CIS Secretariat.

Moldova has signed a total of 282 various agreements within the CIS framework.

In February 2023, then Minister of Foreign Affairs and European Integration Nicu Popescu said Moldova was starting its withdrawal from dozens of CIS agreements. The Moldovan parliament passed a final resolution on the country's withdrawal from an agreement on founding the CIS's Mir television and radio company in May 2023. Moldova also withdrew from a convention on the CIS Inter-Parliamentary Assembly in July 2023.

In early November 2023, the Finance Ministry decided that Moldova would stop paying membership fees to the CIS and other organizations on its platform starting 2024. The ministry's decision reduced the sum originally earmarked for paying annual membership fees to international organizations in 2023 by 16 million lei (an equivalent of about $900,000), from 66.5 million lei to 50.5 million lei.

In line with the Finance Ministry's estimates, Moldova had transferred nearly 35 million lei (about $1.8 million) from its budget as membership fees to the CIS and other organizations on its platform over the previous four years.