Igor Botsan. Photo: point.md
Moldovan Foreign Minister Mihai Popşoi said that Chisinau has launched a process of denouncing three fundamental agreements underlying the country’s CIS membership.
According to him, after the termination of these documents, Moldova will officially and legally no longer be a member of the CIS. At the same time, the country’s de facto participation in the organization was suspended some time ago.
We are talking about the CIS Charter, signed in Minsk on 22 January 1993, the agreement on the creation of the CIS of 8 December 1991, as well as the annex to this agreement of 22 December 1991.
The Foreign Minister specified that the denunciation process had already been launched. The relevant documents will be considered by parliament at the beginning of the new session.
According to the minister, the government plans to complete all the necessary procedures by mid-February, after which the final decision will be taken by parliament.
Popshoy called the breakup of the CIS membership agreements an important step for strengthening the country’s European course.
He also said that Moldova has signed a total of 283 agreements with the CIS. Of these, 71 have already been denounced and about 60 more are in the process of dissolution.
At the same time, the minister said that Chisinau does not intend to abandon the agreements that bring economic benefits or are of practical importance for the citizens, if they do not contradict the country’s European orientation.
The country’s former president Igor Dodon said in an interview with the Russian news agency TASS that leaving the CIS contradicts the will of the people, which is why he announced that he would continue cooperation with the CIS and Russia.
Moscow’s reaction
Chisinau’s intentions were expectedly perceived negatively in Moscow.
Russian presidential spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the Kremlin was not surprised by the Moldovan Foreign Ministry’s statement on withdrawal from the CIS.
“No, this statement did not come as a surprise to us. The fact is that for a long time Moldova’s participation in the CIS has been in a frozen state. Moldova de facto did not take part in the work of the Commonwealth. Of course, it was clear that sooner or later this frozen state would be formalized,” Peskov said. – This is a working format, it is a good platform on which more advanced integrations are emerging. We can only express regret that Moldova continues its course of denying any relations with Russia and the integration processes that are connected with it”.
Political gesture
The denunciation of the agreements concluded within the CIS does not affect the rights and interests of Moldovan citizens, because, with the exception of Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan, Chisinau has already concluded bilateral agreements with all other CIS states. This was stated by political analyst Igor Boțan.
“We have to explain to citizens why Moldova has reached the stage of denouncing agreements with the CIS. On November 30, 2022, then Foreign Minister Nicu Popescu made a statement according to which Moldova starts the process of withdrawal from the CIS. This happened nine months after the beginning of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine. Georgia left the CIS in 2009 after Russia’s aggression against the country and recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Ukraine began the process of withdrawal from the CIS after the invasion of the Crimean peninsula and the war in Donbass. In 2022, Moldova also announced its intention to follow this path,” Igor Boțan said.
In the economic and energy sector, Boțan emphasized that Moldova should reduce its vulnerability, which can be transformed into instruments of political pressure, especially in the natural gas sector, where the dependence on a single supplier was previously used as a blackmail method.
“Russia can no longer blackmail Moldova with energy resources. Of course, we should receive natural gas at the lowest possible prices. But when gas supplies become a blackmail tool, Moldova cannot afford it. Therefore, the denunciation of the CIS agreements is absolutely correct. Besides, Moldova should buy gas on the free market and adapt its energy infrastructure so that citizens receive gas at the most favorable prices,” the expert added.
And, again, slogans about political blackmail with the help of energy carriers and “freedom to buy gas wherever you want” are not about economics.
Citizens will not suffer
In reality, it can be said that the denunciation of the agreements concluded within the CIS and the very withdrawal from this organization will practically not affect either the citizens of Moldova or the economic entities of the country. Since Moldova has bilateral agreements with practically all the Commonwealth states on visa-free regime, social protection (pensions), double taxation, and a lot of other key issues.
Another thing is that this political gesture will certainly be appreciated in Moscow, Minsk and other capitals. And they will not add to the good attitude towards our country.
