Draft national security strategy will envisage creation of joint army of Chisinau and Tiraspol

The existent draft national security strategy must be significantly modified so that it includes the recent Chisinau’s initiatives to create joint Armed Forces of Chisinau and Tiraspol and to reorganise the National Army basing on Moldova’s status of neutrality. This statement was made by President Vladimir Voronin at a meeting with the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation Jaap de Hoop Scheffer. A communiqué from the presidency informs that the two officials discussed the relations of cooperation between Moldova and NATO, the current stage of the Transnistria conflict settlement process, the activity of the EU Border Assistance Mission to Moldova and Ukraine as well as the recent initiatives on building confidence between Chisinau and Tiraspol put forward by the head of state. According to the cited source, they also conferred on the Moldovan-Romanian relations. The NATO Secretary General highly appreciated Moldovan President’s initiatives aimed at strengthening confidence between Chisinau and Tiraspol and at reducing the military potential in the region. Vladimir Voronin also met with the EU Commissioner for Trade Peter Mandelson. The European official praised the Moldovan authorities for the reforms implemented in the country, especially those that concern the system of issuing certificates of origin for the goods and of creating efficient mechanisms of control over the Moldova goods at customs posts. The interlocutors stressed the necessity of continuing the reforms in the area of standardisation and enhancement of Moldovan goods’ competitiveness so that the national producers fully benefit from the unilateral trading regime proposed by the EU. At another meeting, the EU Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development Marian Fischer Boel submitted proposals on how to strengthen the cooperation between Moldova and the European Commission in the agrifood sector, underlining the opportunity of implementing concrete measures at the level of experts. He encouraged the Moldovan authorities to continue complying with the EU standards on the inoffensiveness and safety of the food products, saying that the relevant subdivision of the European Commission will provide all the necessary support in this respect. The two officials examined the possibility of setting up small processing enterprises in the rural sector. Marian Fischer Boel said that the European Commission could support the implementation of such projects. The High Representative for the Common Foreign and Security Policy Javier Solana said at a meeting with Vladimir Voronin that he will engage in supporting the implementation of the confidence building measures, which he described as very productive, according to official communiqués. He said that they can significantly contribute to the modification of the political context of the Transnistria conflict settlement. Javier Solana underlined that the EU is interested in the stabilisation of the situation in the region and wants Moldova to have constructive cooperation relations both with the European Union and the Russian Federation. President Vladimir Voronin had been on an official visit to Brussels between December 5 and 6. He had a number of meetings with officials of Belgium, NATO and European institutions.