Foreign Affairs on September 16–30, 2006

Republic of Moldova — Council of Europe

Ambassador Vladimir Philipov, special representative of the Council of Europe secretary-general to Moldova, has completed his mission to Chisinau and Ambassador Vladimir Ristovschi will succeed him. Mr. Philipov has highly appreciated the relations of cooperation and partnership with Moldovan authorities and the conditions of activity. The ambassador noted that Moldova has obtained palpable successes in all fields of activity in three years, especially regarding the approaching to the European Union. Philipov and Chisinau officials said at farewell meetings that the start of negotiations on end of the CoE monitoring on Moldova is planned for an “immediate perspective of cooperation”.

Moldova’s prime minister has sought the CoE’s support for gaining the regime of Asymmetrical Trade Preferences and signing of an Association Agreement with the European Union, at a farewell meeting with Mr. Philipov. The sides agreed on opportunity of working out a Moldova-CoE action plan for 2007–09.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe (CoE ambassadors) continued at the September 27 meeting the examination of measures of execution of the ECHR judgment on “Ilascu and Others versus the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation”. The Moldovan delegation has told the Committee of Ministers that the Moldovan minister of justice has appealed to his Russian counterpart and the Reintegration Ministry has received only the response of the OSCE Mission in Chisinau to the recent appeals regarding this case. Requested by Moldovan delegation, the CoE Secretariat-General will work out a detailed report concerning the actions taken by European states in compliance with the 4th Interim Resolution of the Committee of Ministers on Ilascu case. Representatives of the Russian Federation avoided any comments on this issue during the meeting of the CoE’s Committee of Ministers.

Republic of Moldova — European Union

A new strategy of communication on the European Neighbourhood Policy, which will address the Black Sea region, including Moldova will be drafted at the last sitting of the E.U. Council of Foreign Ministers by the end of this year. The Council took note of a request by the Greek delegation, supported by certain other delegations, for the E.U. to strengthen its relations with the Organisation of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation and to develop a comprehensive policy towards the Black Sea region.

President Voronin has met the E.U. special representative for Moldova, Adriaan Jakobovits de Szeged, and discussed current problems linked to the Moldova-E.U. relations. In particular, the sides studied the efforts for implementation of the E.U.-Moldova Action Plan, the perspective of development of the dialogue after the accession of Romania and Bulgaria to the E.U., participation of the E.U. in the process of territorial reintegration of Moldova. The sides indicated the need of resuming the Transnistrian settlement negotiations as soon as possible, with Voronin saying that the talks must be based on the law on basic principles of the Transnistrian region’s status adopted by Moldovan Parliament in July 2005. They also discussed the start of the dialogue on possibility to ease the visa regime for Moldovans, opening of a joint Schengen visa issuance centre in Moldova, gaining of the regime of asymmetrical trade preferences with the E.U. by Moldova.

The Finnish E.U. Presidency has released a statement on delayed execution of the ECHR judgment on “Ilascu and Others versus the Republic of Moldova and the Russian Federation” case at the meeting of the CoE’s Committee of Ministers. The statement reiterates the stance that the sides sentenced for violation of the European Convention on Human Rights must implement all ECHR judgments unconditionally. The respondent states must take all necessary actions to stop the arbitrary detention of applicants and to obtain their immediate release. The Russian CoE Committee of Ministers Presidency is at half-way and the non-execution of the ECHR judgment continues to shadow this presidency, seriously threatens the credibility of the human rights protection system of the CoE.

Moldova’s minister of foreign affairs and European integration has told a meeting chaired by Premier Vasile Tarlev that the E.U. has accepted to discuss with Chisinau the possibility of facilitating the visa regime for Moldovans. In this context, the European Commission has promised to open a Joint European Visa Centre in Moldova.

The E.U. Presidency has released a statement regarding the September 17, 2006 referendum held in the Transnistrian region of Moldova. According to the document, the European Union realises that the “referendum” in the Transnistrian region contravenes to the internationally recognised sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova, while the situation in Transnistria does not allow the population to express itself freely. The E.U. reiterated that it does not recognise the “referendum” and its results, calling on mediators and observers of the five-plus-two negotiation process led by the OSCE to deliver public statements in this respect and invited the sides to restart the five-plus-two negotiations immediately and to work on a rapid and transparent settlement of the Transnistrian conflict.

It was agreed during an official visit of representatives of the Moldovan Parliament to Brussels to extend the format of communication and dialogue with the European Parliament. This statement was delivered by Moldovan Speaker Marian Lupu, who said that the dialogue will mean periodical visits of Moldovan parliamentarians to European structures, an intense communication with representatives of the key political groups of the European Parliament, especially with the European People’s Party, of Socialists and Liberals.

Ambassador Ian Boag, head of the European Commission Delegation to Ukraine and Belarus, has said after the 3rd meeting of the E.U. Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine that food-stuffs and other goods are flowing freely into the Transnistrian region of Moldova and there are no administrative or other obstacles hindering this flow of imports. The Advisory Board endorsed the first part of an EC-financed project called BOMMOLUK (Improvement of Border Controls at the Moldova-Ukraine border worth 9 million euros).

The E.U.-financed TACIS Project “Sustenance of Small and Medium Businesses in Rural Regions of Moldova” was officially launched at a seminar held in Chisinau on September 29. The main goal of the project is to sustain the rural development and the implementation of EGPRSP in Moldova by stimulating the growth of small and medium-sized enterprises in rural regions and consolidating their contribution to the Gross Domestic Product, trade, and creation of jobs. The project aims to assist the Moldovan Government in creating a political, institutional, legal and regulatory framework supported via development of small and medium enterprises based in rural regions. The project is worth 1.9 million euros.

Republic of Moldova — Romania

The chairman of the Romanian Senate, Nicolae Vacaroiu, was on an official visit to Moldova on September 25–26 and met with Moldovan speaker, prime minister, president and other high-ranking dignitaries. Vacaroiu said that Romania wants to see Moldova following it on the European integration path as soon as possible, while the main goal of his official visit to Chisinau was to upgrade the interparliamentary relations between the two states and to make them progress to a new quality level. According to the Romanian Senate head, these relations did not meet the expectations and now they should develop more dynamically for the benefit of citizens of the two countries.

Romanian President Traian Basescu has said in a speech when he received the Konrad Adenauer award that “Europe will not be a whole as long as the Western Balkans and the Republic of Moldova are not part of the European Union.” Romania will plead for continuation of geopolitical transformations, adoption of the E.U. Constitution and accession of Moldova and countries in the Balkan peninsula to the E.U. in a medium-term perspective, Romanian President Traian Basescu has stated to the TV channel EuroNews. The chief of state underlined that the E.U. will enlarge toward the Black Sea region for the first time through accession of Romania and Bulgaria, will approach this area and will have to participate in settlement of the problems faced by this region. The problems of the region include four frozen conflicts in the Black Sea area, which are a hotbed of instability, produce illegal trafficking in weapons and drugs.

President Basescu has stated to Radio Liberty that the accession of Romania to the E.U. must not create obstacles for the free move of Moldovans and Romanians to other countries. Romania will discuss eventual solutions to this problem with the E.U., so that Romanians from other countries be not obstructed to travel and enter their motherland. Basescu regretted that Romania has earlier withdrawn from the number of mediators of the Transnistrian settlement process, but assured that it will monitor the documents, proposals and the entire Transnistrian settlement process beside the E.U.

Romanian Foreign Minister Mihai Razvan Ungureanu has reiterated that there is an illegitimate regime in Transnistria supported strongly by well-armed troops, involved in smuggling, illegal trafficking in goods, and violation of human rights. This regime is “ready to blackmail the neighbours and the legitimate Government of Moldova with its arms and munitions, a regime which cynically parodies the democracy, organising illegal referendums,” Ungureanu stated. He assured that the ties with Moldova will be deeper after Romania joins the E.U. Ungureanu hopes that “the chance of prosperity that we give will be used,” while the Moldovan authorities are expected to give more substance to political commitments toward Bucharest. The foreign minister recalled that Romania was the main provider of economic assistance for Moldova and it has granted economic aid worth 114 million dollars in 16 years.

Romanian policemen have held four Moldovan nationals who intended to cross the Romania-Hungary border illegally in order to arrive in the West. The Romanian police issued the necessary acts before filing penal cases against the four Moldovans on illegal border crossing charges.

Republic of Moldova — Russian Federation

Three factions from the Russian State Duma which control about 20 percent of the mandates demand the start of the diplomatic procedure for recognition of independence of the self-proclaimed Transnistrian Moldovan Republic. According to Russian press reports, the draft was tabled by Rodina, Narodnaya Volya and the Liberal Democratic Party factions. They seek the introduction of direct flights between Moscow and Tiraspol and the opening of a Russian consulate in the Transnistrian region.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has told a news conference while on a visit to Paris that he did not know that Tiraspol leader Igor Smirnov visited Moscow, while the Transnistrian referendum must be regarded in the light of territorial integrity of Moldova which the Russian Federation recognises.

Russia’s foreign minister was asked at the session of the U.N. General Assembly about Moscow’s reaction to discussion of post-Soviet frozen conflicts. Sergey Lavrov said that this intention is a “politicising of the problem” while the United Nations is not the indicated forum to discuss these conflicts. Lavrov considers that the initiators of talks “follow propagandistic goals and are not interested in the functioning of the existing negotiation format.”

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration asks the Russian Federation to close the office which processes the acts for Russian citizenship. The Moldovan representation to the OSCE has informed the Permanent Council of the organisation about inadequate actions of the Russian authorities.

Although it has promised to start inspecting wineries in Moldova in early October, the Russian Phyto-sanitary Service Rospotrebnadzor did not make any preparations for this purpose. But Rospotrebnadzor chief Gennady Onishchenko has recently said that the way of Moldovan wine products to the Russian market is actually closed. Onishchenko considers that the Moldovan authorities “are trying to look at this problem from political aspect and this fact leads to a complete impasse.”

The Moldovan minister of finance has met with his Russian counterpart and reached a preliminary agreement on restructuring of some debts of Moldova toward the Russian Federation. The meeting took place in Singapore, where the two officials attended the annual meeting of the IMF and the World Bank. According to Minister Mihai Pop, the sides have agreed to restructure some debts toward Russia, which consist of arrears for the basic debt — restructuring of interests on credits released by Moscow after the basic debt was restructured in May via the Paris Creditors Club.

Moldova in the world

The United States describes Russia’s decision to establish a passport insurance facility in Moldova’s Transnistrian region and Moscow’s decision to simplify the procedures for Transnistrians seeking Russian citizenship as moves that threaten to undermine Moldova’s sovereignty and territorial integrity. The U.S. ambassador to the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Julie Finley, has delivered this statement at the OSCE Permanent Council in Vienna. Finley urged again Russia to fulfil its 1999 Istanbul Commitments to withdraw all troops and munitions from the territory of Moldova. Also, the U.S. again urged the Russian government to inform the Transnistrian authorities immediately, and to state publicly, that it will not recognise any claims to independence or support any move to annex Transnistria to the Russian Federation.

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