Foreign Affairs on November 1–15, 2006

Republic of Moldova — Council of Europe

According to a conclusion of corapporteurs of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE), Moldova cannot get rid of the monitoring, though our country has achieved some progresses in democratisation of society after the latest report on monitoring. Drawbacks and shortcomings are related to “partial” freedom of mass media, quality of justice, of adopted laws and the way they are applied.

The Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe resumed debates on execution of the European Court of Human Rights’ judgment on “Ilascu and others versus Moldova and the Russian Federation” at the November 8 session. The Moldovan delegation has thanked the states which constantly manifested interest and support for a rapid solution to this case. The Finnish delegation has reiterated on behalf of the European Union Presidency the concerns of the E.U. over non-settlement of this case and urged Moldova and the Russian Federation to take all measures for an immediate release of Andrei Ivantoc and Tudor Petrov-Popa. Finland noted again that the non-execution of this ruling by the Russian Federation deteriorates the image of this country within the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe and the credibility of the whole human rights protection system.

The ECHR has sentenced Moldova in another four cases:

Draguta vs Moldova — violation of Article 6 (1) and Article 1 of the Protocol # 1 of the Convention on the Protection of Human Rights. The Moldovan Government will pay more than 13,000 euros to the applicant in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages;
Holomiov vs Moldova — violation of Article 3, Article 5 and Article 6 of the Convention; the applicant will be paid 25,800 euros;
Braga vs Moldova — violation of Article 6 (1) of the Convention, with the ECHR obliging the Moldovan Government to pay more than 3,000 euros to applicant;
Melnic vs Moldova — violation of Article 6 (1) of the Convention; the Government must pay 23,000 euros to applicant in pecuniary and non-pecuniary damages.

Republic of Moldova — European Union

The European Union intends to modify the procedure of granting financial assistance to Moldova in 2007, so that Moldova will receive more assistance within the Neighbourhood Policy. According to minister of foreign affairs and European integration, the TACIS programme will be replaced with a new tool, which will not be limited to technical assistance only. More than 50 percent of the sources granted from European funds will be directed to support the state budget for implementation of economic and infrastructure development projects.

A recent report by the European Commission insists on priority of European values, geographic limits and warns over enlargement. The commission stipulates stricter conditions for admission of candidates, especially for political reforms in these states, without excluding the accession of new candidates in future. The enlargement agenda includes now the Western Balkans and Turkey, but it is premature to schedule the accession of these candidates.

Republic of Moldova — Romania

The Mediafax news agency has quoted Romanian President Traian Basescu as saying that he “is disappointed with the integrated history textbook” promoted in Moldovan educational institutions. Speaking about relationship between Romania and Moldova, the Romanian president reiterated that Romania supports the integration of Moldova in the E.U. enlargement wave that covers the Western Balkans area, in order to avoid the inclusion of the neighbouring country in the wave comprising Ukraine. Basescu noted that the growth of confidence between political factors from Bucharest and Chisinau is the only goal of Romanian authorities at present.

On November 3, the Romanian Traffic Police and the Moldovan Border Guards Service signed a plan on cooperation between border institutions for 2007, which stipulates intensified efforts against crimes at the Moldova-Romania state border, a series of measures to strengthen the border management.

The Romanian Consulate in Chisinau accepts applications for collective visas from Moldovan citizens. The diplomatic mission will introduce an online appointment system for persons seeking individual visas. The embassy assures that Moldovans will not pay for Romanian visas.

Republic of Moldova — Russian Federation

The Yedinaya Rossia Party has delegated a group of lawmakers from the State Duma to monitor the presidential elections in the unrecognised Transnistrian Moldovan Republic (Deputies Olga Selivestrova, Konstantin Zatulin and Sergey Kolesnikov are delegated).

Vladimir Yakunin, director of the Russian railway company, has described the decision to suspend the train # 47 with Chisinau-Moscow destination as political, noting that Russian railway authorities coordinate their international relations accordingly to political conjuncture and evolutions.

Moldova’s chief sanitary doctor has commented on accusations brought by his Russian counterpart Gennady Onishchenko, saying that the community of experts and doctors from Moldova estimates with deep compassion and pity the size of alcohol poisoning in the Russian Federation, with Moldovan authorities taking additional measures to verify all spirits from the Russian Federation, though such social epidemics have not been registered in Moldova.

Rospotrebndazor has stopped negotiations with Moldovan authorities regarding the access of wines to Russian market. Rospotrebndazor head Gennady Onishchenko said that the contacts have been suspended because the “Moldovan side failed the agreed measures.” At the same time, Onishchenko said that there is a better perspective for negotiations on resumption of spirits exports from Transnistria [a Rospotrebnadzor delegation has already visited the region] and Abkhazia.

According to data of the National Bureau for Statisitcs, the Russian Federation remains the main importer of Moldovan products in January-September. Goods worth 142.3 million dollars were delivered to the Russian Federation in nine months of this year, which is by 15.2 percent less than in the same period of 2005.

Moldova in the world

According to data of the National Bureau for Statistics, 494 foreign citizens obtained residence permits in Moldova in January-September 2006. At the same time, 1,256 immigrants have arrived in Moldova in the period concerned, of them 762 persons obtained fixed-term permits. Most foreign citizens (250) have arrived from Ukraine and Turkey (237). More than 1,300 persons have repatriated themselves from Moldova in the same period.

Moldova was declared eligible for full financial assistance of the Millennium Challenge Corporation in 2007. The Board of Directors of the U.S. Millennium Challenge Corporation said that Moldova has joined another 22 countries eligible for development assistance. Eligibility for the Complete Program is a direct result of reformation policies promoted by Moldovan Government, being “a prize for implementation of some good policies.”

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