Politics
Analysis: Sankt-Petersburg CIS Summit
Reading Time: 5 minutesThe informal CIS Summit held in Sankt-Petersburg on June 6–7, 2008 had a distinct significance. All CIS leaders have shown interest to attend the summit and this is a rarity. Grave problems between a
Author: Igor Botan, Adept
Significance of the Sankt-Petersburg Summit
The informal CIS Summit held in Sankt-Petersburg on June 6–7, 2008 had a distinct significance. All CIS leaders have shown interest to attend the summit and this is a rarity. Grave problems between a number of CIS states and Russia could not halt the participation in the first collective meeting with the newly-elected Russian president, Dmitri Medvedyev. There were reasons before and after the summit to speculate that CIS leaders have made the first "bowing" to the new president of a rising and increasingly powerful Russia.
Two events have especially fuelled such speculations. First, the summit took place in Sankt-Petersburg, the native city of the newly-elected Russian president and his predecessor, as well as the city where King Peter the Great was declared Imperator of Russia by the Senate in 1721. The second event was a gesture by Moldovan President Vladimir Voronin, who has almost managed to turn his "bowing" into a sensational action when he made public the disinterested intention to give back to Russia two paintings stolen from the "Hermitage" Museum in Sankt-Petersburg and found on the eve by Moldovan police in Moldova. Although President Voronin’s announcement produced confusion, Russian authorities and specialists in the field of arts claim that Russia has definitively restored its status of superpower since it is voluntarily recovered losses which it did not have any idea about.
Republic of Moldova meets Russia’s wishes
The Sankt-Petersburg summit like precedent informal summits aimed to discuss key issues between CIS leaders, though truly important problems shall be resolved within bilateral relations. Russia’s major interest in CIS is to confirm its status of "centre of differentiated integration" into the post-Soviet area. These claims have been raised in the past years, in particular, by former president Vladimir Putin and Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, who insist that the modernisation of CIS is a priority on Russia’s foreign policy agenda.
It is worth to note that the almost secret 2007 Dushanbe CIS Summit has proclaimed the reformation of the Commonwealth of Independent States. However, the CIS maintained the priorities established in 2005, in particular regarding migration policy; transportation; education; humanitarian matters especially related to ensuring the status of Russian language in CIS, etc., that means other issues than those indicated by Russia. At the November 2006 Minsk summit, which should start modernising the CIS, former president Vladimir Putin has recommended his counterparts to promote a coordinated foreign policy and a stronger military integration within CIS.
Putin’s wishes have been tactically turned down then, particularly by Kazakhstan and Ukraine and the modernisation of CIS was postponed for 2007. There are grounds to believe that Moldovan authorities have been receptive to Moscow’s messages since Russia embargoed the Moldovan agro-food production in 2006 and the Moldovan wines in 2006. In 2006, Moscow supported a referendum on independence and joining of Transnistria to Russia. Given those circumstances, President Voronin has delivered the famous note explaining the six basic principles to settle the Transnistrian conflict to his Russian counterpart Vladimir Voronin at the August 2006 informal CIS summit. That is why informal CIS summits are needed for! Otherwise, it would be hard to imagine how former president Putin would have got the note by his Moldovan counterpart. That’s true, as Mr. Putin has promised three months later at the Minsk summit to lift the commercial embargo on Moldova and showed interest for initiatives written on the note by President Voronin regarding recognition of Russia’s estates in Transnistria, strengthening of the economic presence on the right side of the Dniester, etc.
Moldova has taken its first test for adjusting its foreign policy to Russia’s wishes in 2007, when it ostentatiously demonstrated its detachment from GUAM, a regional organisation led by Ukraine. Russia’s very negative attitude towards GUAM provides occasions and opportunities to demonstrate loyalty over Russia, a step made by President Voronin by not attending two GUAM summits. In this context, Moldovan authorities revised this year the draft National Security Concept and removed all references to issues capable to irritate Russia, including GUAM. Instead, the ostentatious insistence on setting Moldova’s neutrality in a document that is less important that the Constitution, which stipulates express the neutrality of Moldova, has served as an additional proof that security policies are adjusted to Russia’s wishes. Altogether, these acts fit initiatives released by Vladimir Putin at the 2006 Minsk CIS Summit to promote a coordinated foreign and security policy. For these reasons, President Voronin was justified to expect Russia’s support in settling the Transnistrian conflict.
Russia "freezes" Moldova’s expectations
In Sankt-Petersburg, after President Voronin has shown his "disinterested benevolence" to give back to Russia what the latter did not know that it had lost, the Moldovan chief of state and President Medvedyev had a private meeting on bilateral problems, particularly on the Transnistrian issue. The Tiraspol media could not abstain from sarcasm, stressing that President Voronin has failed "a gentle bowing". The stake that new Russian President Dmitrii Medvedyev could be softened up to give green light to the Transnistrian settlement plan was not materialised. Given the fact that the parliamentary election campaign will officially begin in Moldova within half a year, the Sankt-Petersburg summit has actually provided the last opportunity to make President Medvedyev impel the Transnistrian settlement, so that to have a decisive impact before the end of President Voronin’s mandate. In consequence, the governance-affiliated Moldovan media had to be optimistic that experts will hold consultations after the Voronin-Medvedyev to approach the Transnistrian settlement.
It seems that Russia is not ready yet to quickly resolve a series of problems from convenient positions for it. Now it may fuel expectations which could be postponed until an opportune moment for Russia appears. As regards the Transnistrian conflict, key clauses of President Voronin’s plan are generally known. According to President Voronin, Chisinau has worked out a package of documents which are being studied by mediators and observers. The initiatives concern the status of Transnistria and necessary guarantees; provides a wide autonomy to Transnistria accordingly to the July 22, 2005 law on basic principles of Transnistria’s status, but includes elements of the "Kozak Memorandum"; withdrawal of weapons from the region and Russian military presence; introduction of a civil peacekeeping mission, etc.
In this context, expectations shared by President Voronin in March were linked to the possibility to convoke a non-stop session with Russia’s support in order to identify problems of principle to back the "package" proposals and to be discussed at "5+2" negotiations. Of course, Russia should also persuade the Transnistrian side to restart negotiations. President Voronin was probably expecting his Russian counterpart at the Sankt-Petersburg summit to let him know if Russia is ready to support the package of proposals by Chisinau.
Recent visits by Russian high-ranking dignitaries to Chisinau that anticipated somehow the talks at the Sankt-Petersburg CIS summit aimed to send a message which was pretty clear since March – Russia will not recognise Transnistria’s independence for the time being, so that not to undermine the CIS, but it will not exercise special pressures on Tiraspol, letting the latter find an acceptable solution with Chisinau. Indeed, this is already a rule since the "Primakov Memorandum" was signed in May 1997. Under such circumstances, the conflict will unlikely "thaw" before the spring 2009 parliamentary elections. Another purpose of visits by Russian dignitaries to Chisinau was to test how far President Voronin can yield under the shortage of time. Statements by the chairman of the State Duma Committee for CIS Relations, Alexei Ostrovsky, who said that Mr. Voronin would accept to negotiate a resolution which would allow Transnistria to veto the foreign and security policy of Moldova, provisions that would maintain the essential element of the "Kozak Memorandum", cannot be neglected or exaggerated. Such a resolution would mean to keep Transnistria under Russia’s control and Chisinau under Tiraspol’s control, dispensing Chisinau of the necessity to promote a foreign and security policy coordinated with Russia.
Anyway, given the acute desire of Moldovan authorities to make progress in the Transnistrian settlement process, one may expect spectacular and especially propagandistic surprises before the 2009 parliamentary elections.
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
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
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
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
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