Moldovan Parliament Denounces Three More Agreements of the Russian-led Commonwealth of Post-Soviet States

The Moldovan parliament has denounced three more agreements concluded within the framework of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), established in 1992. According to the Moldpres, Moldovan MPs voted for this in the second reading on Thursday.

In particular, it refers to the Agreement on the Principles of Providing the Armed Forces of the Commonwealth Member States with Arms, Equipment, Material Resources, Organisation of Production Activities of Repair Enterprises, Research and Development, signed in Minsk on 14 February 1992.

According to the Ministry of Defence of Moldova, the denunciation of the agreement is due to its inapplicability and irrelevance, as well as the fact that the Republic of Moldova does not interact in the military and political sphere within the CIS.

Another denounced document is the Agreement on Military Observer Groups and Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the CIS, signed in Kyiv on 20 March 1992, and the Protocol on the Temporary Procedure for the Formation and Involvement of Military Observer Groups and Collective Peacekeeping Forces in Interstate Conflicts and in the CIS Member States, signed by Moldova on 4 August 1992.

The Ministry of Defence of Moldova considers it inexpedient to maintain the country's membership in this agreement, as it does not interact within the CIS in the military and political sphere and has not de facto implemented the provisions of this agreement. Also, the states parties to this agreement are simultaneously parties to the UN Charter, which takes precedence in international law.

The third denounced document is the Agreement on Cooperation for the Provision of Technical and Material Assistance to Competent Authorities in Combating Terrorism and Other Violent Manifestations of Extremism. This is motivated by the lack of cooperation in this area with the parties, as well as the fact that the Moldovan Information and Security Service did not use the provisions of the agreement, which makes it inappropriate for the Republic of Moldova to maintain its membership status in this agreement.

The Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) is a regional intergovernmental organisation established after the collapse of the USSR in accordance with the Minsk Agreement of 8 December 1991 by Belarus, Russia, Ukraine and the Alma-Ata Declaration of 21 December 1991, consisting of newly independent states (except Georgia, Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania). Initially, this structure was perceived as a guarantor of a civilised divorce of the former Soviet republics that became independent states after the collapse of the USSR. An alternative concept envisaged vesting the CIS with functions that would ensure the reintegration of the post-Soviet space led by Russia.

Since the creation of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), Ukraine has been concerned about Russia's attempts to become a consolidating force in the post-Soviet geopolitical space. This determined Ukraine's position on the CIS as a whole. In May 1992, Ukraine did not sign the Tashkent Treaty on Collective Security of the CIS member states, and on 22 January 1993, it did not sign the CIS Charter.