Adopted in first reading: Parliament supports definitive withdrawal of Moldova from statutory bodies of Commonwealth of Independent States

The parliament today voted, in the first reading, for the denunciation of the Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), its related Protocol, as well as the CIS Statute.

The denunciation of these Agreements was initiated by the Foreign Affairs Ministry, which says that the CIS’s fundamental values and principles are not respected, especially the provision according to which the member states mutually recognize and respect the territorial integrity and the inviolability of existing borders.

The documents were presented in the parliament’s plenum by Foreign Affairs Minister Mihai Popsoi. The official stressed that the principles on which the CIS had been founded were violated by the Russian Federation, which is waging a war against Ukraine, committing acts of aggression against Georgia, and illegally maintaining military troops on the territory of Moldova. He also said that the denunciation of the CIS Agreement was a natural and inevitable step in achieving the goal of EU accession.

“Today, we stand at a crossroads that can no longer be postponed. For more than three decades, we have dragged behind us a heavy burden, an invisible chain that kept us tied to a past that no longer belongs to us. The CIS is an organization born from the ashes of a collapsed empire, gradually transformed into an instrument for maintaining Moscow’s influence over its neighbors. This ‘suitcase without a handle’ – as even a former president called it – has not brought us prosperity, has not protected our sovereignty, has not offered us security. On the contrary: it has kept us captive in a grey zone, exposed us to energy, political and military blackmail,” Mihai Popsoi said.

The parliamentary opposition criticized the legislative initiative. An MP of the Party of Socialists (PSRM), Vlad Batrancea, noted that the decisions could affect trade relations with CIS states. At the same time, a lawmaker of the Party of Communists (PCRM), Diana Caraman, pointed out that the denunciation of the agreements might affect citizens working in CIS states, while Alexandr Stoianoglo, an MP of the Alternative parliamentary faction, stressed that these actions could affect communication and cooperation relations within international platforms.

The Agreement on the Establishment of the Commonwealth of Independent States and the Protocol to this Agreement were signed in December 1991 by 11 former Soviet states, including Moldova. The main purpose of the Agreement and the Protocol was to record the end of the existence of the USSR and the formation of the CIS. In turn, the CIS Statute, signed in 1993, lays down the basic principles on which the Commonwealth is founded.

After parliament denounces the Agreements, the state budget will save about 3.1 million lei, representing the annual contribution to the CIS budget. Relations with CIS member states will continue following the denunciation on bilateral and multilateral platforms, and Moldova will remain a party to more CIS treaties, especially in the commercial, economic and social fields.

The draft laws are to be discussed in the second reading.

In the last two years, Moldova has launched an extensive process of examining the relevance and applicability of the treaties concluded within the CIS framework. So far, out of 283 CIS agreements, 71 have already been denounced and approximately 60 are under review.