Connect with us

Politics

Russia killed Conventional Forces in Europe Treaty, Moldova keeps silent

Reading Time: 3 minutesIn December 2007, Moscow killed the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) officially, declaring a unilateral “moratorium” (suspension) of indefinite duration on Russia’s compliance with the CFE treaty and the accompanying Flank Document. Moscow’s official decision capped years of undeclared and unacknowledged breaches, including deployments of Russian forces in Georgia and Moldova.

Published

on

Reading Time: 3 minutes

By Vladimir Socor/ Jamestown Foundation/ Washington, DC — In December 2007, Moscow killed the Treaty on Conventional Forces in Europe (CFE) officially, declaring a unilateral “moratorium” (suspension) of indefinite duration on Russia’s compliance with the CFE treaty and the accompanying Flank Document. Moscow’s official decision capped years of undeclared and unacknowledged breaches, including deployments of Russian forces in Georgia and Moldova. 

Four years later, the United States and NATO are finally acknowledging Russia’s destruction of the CFE treaty. They are in turn ceasing to perform their treaty obligations vis-à-vis Russia. The cessation applies to military data exchanges and onsite verification inspections, as long as Russia continues not to perform its own obligations on that account.

These countermeasures, however, fall short of addressing Russia’s noncompliance with the treaty in Georgia and Moldova. Under the 1999 CFE treaty package, Russia had committed to withdraw its forces from Moldova and Georgia (“Istanbul Commitments,” with 2002 withdrawal deadlines for Russian troops from Transnistria and Abkhazia). More broadly, the CFE treaty does not allow the stationing of foreign forces without host-country-consent (which Georgia and Moldova never gave to Russia). 

On November 22, US State Department Spokeswoman Victoria Nuland announced the US countermeasures. NATO countries followed suit on November 22 and November 29, each allied country speaking on its own behalf pursuant to a collective NATO decision in Brussels. In their pre-coordinated statements, the allied countries noted that Russia’s non-transparency and lack of reciprocity could not continue indefinitely without countermeasures on their part.

Effective immediately, the US and NATO allies (in their respective national capacities) will cease performing the CFE Treaty obligations regarding mutual inspections and data exchanges with Russia. They will no longer deliver information to Russia in the annual December exchange of information; no longer provide any notification of military activities to Russia; and no longer accept Russian-requested onsite inspections. The US and Allies will, however, continue to perform all their obligations vis-a-vis all the other state-parties to the CFE treaty. Full implementation of those obligations vis-a-vis Russia would resume when Moscow resumes performing its obligations on these same treaty aspects. Meanwhile, the US and allies intend voluntarily to inform Russia about any “significant” changes in their force posture in Europe (i.e., at their discretion) (US State Department and NATO press releases, November 22, 29).

The OSCE is the CFE treaty’s nominal custodian organization. The OSCE’s Joint Consultative Group (JCG) in Vienna is the forum for discussing the CFE treaty’s implementation by the 30 signatory countries. Given Russia’s veto power, the JCG can at best discuss, but was never able to deal with, Russia’s breaches of the CFE treaty.

On November 29, in the JCG’s final meeting this year, Georgia announced that it would take the same steps as the NATO countries with regard to Russia. Additionally, Georgia noted Russia’s noncompliance with its 1999 commitments on troop withdrawals, its breach of the host-country-consent principle, and its military occupation of Georgia’s territories since 2008. Azerbaijan referenced the 2008 war as well as Armenia’s occupation of Azerbaijani territories, noting in its statement that the CFE treaty failed to prevent military aggression in the South Caucasus (OSCE JCG documents, November 29).

Russia has found a new excuse for violating the host-country-consent principle. Russian officials claim, first, that Abkhazia and South Ossetia have given their consent to the stationing of Russian forces, under bilateral treaties, since Russia “recognized” these two “states” in 2008. Moscow further claims that it can no longer consider complying with the CFE treaty in the case of Georgia, and not even accept the host-country-consent “to be cast in stone” as a general principle in an international treaty. The excuse is that doing so would imply de-“recognizing” Abkhazia and South Ossetia and implicitly accepting the Western position on “Georgia’s territorial integrity in its old borders,” which Russia cannot do. Russia’s envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, presented this position at the latest NATO-Russia Council session, when NATO made a last-minute attempt to avoid taking the countermeasures. The Russian Security Council’s Deputy Secretary, Vladimir Nazarov, reinforced that argument at a high-level conference on Euro-Atlantic security in Moscow (Izvestiya, November 15; Interfax, November 30).

Moscow’s suggestion that it can no longer accept the host-country-consent principle even theoretically (after breaching it in practice anyway) holds potential implications beyond Georgia, possibly affecting Moldova, where Tiraspol authorities are available at any time to “host” Russian forces.

Meanwhile, Chisinau keeps silent in the debate on the CFE treaty and the Western countermeasures. The US and other Western governments have fully informed Chisinau, ahead of their November 22 announcements about the countermeasures. In Washington, Vienna, and elsewhere, diplomats are trying to elicit Moldova’s official position, particularly on the key issue of whether Moldova would rally to the US/NATO position or not. Chisinau has missed the deadlines of the November 22 and 29 JCG meetings. Chisinau’s final deadline would be December 14, when the annual exchange of information among CFE signatory countries is scheduled to take place, and Chisinau’s Western partners will no longer provide that information to Russia.

Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Featured

FC Sheriff Tiraspol victory: can national pride go hand in hand with political separatism?

Published

on

Reading Time: 4 minutes

A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.

International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.

Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.

Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.

Is it Moldova?

First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.

At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”

What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.

“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.

Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.

Is it a victory?

In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.

Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.

“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”

Is it only about football?

FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.

The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.

Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.

Photo: unknown

Continue Reading

Politics

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita meets high-ranking EU officials in Brussels

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.

Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.

“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.

Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.

Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.

A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.

“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”

The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.

Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.

Photo: gov.md

Continue Reading

Politics

Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria

Published

on

Reading Time: 2 minutes

The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.

In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.

“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”

“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”

The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.

They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur  to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.

**

The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.

The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”

Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”

Photo: peacekeeping.un.org

Continue Reading
Advertisement

Latest News

Society3 years ago

“They are not needy, but they need help”. How Moldovan volunteers try to create a safe environment for the Ukrainian refugees

Reading Time: 3 minutesAt the Government’s ground floor, the phones ring constantly, the laptop screens never reach standby. In one...

Important3 years ago

#WorldForUkraine – a map that shows the magnitude of the world’s actions against Russian aggression

Reading Time: 2 minutesThe international community and volunteers from all over te world have launched #WorldForUkraine as a platform that...

Important3 years ago

How is Moldova managing the big influx of Ukrainian refugees? The authorities’ plan, explained 

Reading Time: 3 minutesFrom 24th to 28th of February, 71 359 Ukrainian citizens entered the territory of Republic of Moldova....

Opinion3 years ago

Russia And Ukraine At The Beginning of 2022

Reading Time: 4 minutesThis opinion piece was written by Dr. Nicholas Dima. Dr. Dima was formerly a Professor of Geography and...

Culture3 years ago

The man raising children on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutesOn the Nistru, near the village of Varnița, a few colored pens with blue dots in the...

Culture3 years ago

The village of the first astronomer in the Republic of Moldova

Reading Time: 5 minutesFrom eight in the morning till noon, every Thursday and Sunday, people lay their merchandise on the...

Culture3 years ago

The prodigal son returns and turns his grandparents’ home in a tourist attraction on Nistru river

Reading Time: 7 minutesOn the road towards the school, a well-maintained rural house catches your eye, yellow stags painted on...

Advertisement

Opinions

Advertisement

Trending

Copyright © Moldova.org