Moldova is a laggard in fulfilling RM-NATO Action Plan

Moldova has still a long way to go to implement its Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO, experts and politicians told a news conference today, upon their return from a visit to NATO headquarters in Brussels. According to MP Oleg Serebrian, the indirect signal that the Moldovan delegates received during their visit is that NATO has been closely watching the latest developments related to the so-called demilitarisation initiatives. “It is obvious that they do not understand either the amplitude of this process. However, what Moldova must do is to carry on fulfilling the IPAP, which stipulates the commitment to transform the military forces. Now, you cannot restructure the military forces as you are set to liquidate them, can you?”, Serebrian said. Notable is the fact, Serebrian added, that the NATO officials have kept mentioning the military the contribution of neutral states in Europe to organising diverse peacekeeping and peace-building operations. Belarus and Moldova are the only countries in Europe that do not get involved in peacekeeping operations under NATO’s aegis, the cited source stated. Oleg Serebrian went on to add that the officials in Brussels feel that the only achievement of Moldova under IPAP was the opening of the Documentation and Information Centre on NATO. Moldova is very much lagging behind other countries in implementing the IPAP, Serebrian concluded. Radu Gorincioi, the director of the Moldova-based Documentation and Information Centre on NATO, explained that IPAP is, above all, a political document which doesn’t impair the neutrality of our country. Moldova’s commitments concern, in particular, the reformation of the legislative framework and of the defence and security system. Just one of the five chapters concerns military issues. At the same time, Gorincioi added, comparatively little has been done to implement this document, including because of various initiatives that contradict the IPAP. Political analyst Oazu Nantoi says it is very interesting how Vladimir Voronin, who is due to visit NATO headquarters in the first half of December, will explain that NATO is a tool for suppressing freedom, as the programme draft of the Communist Party shows. Speaking on the demilitarisation issue, Nantoi said that if Moldova embarks on a military reform that lacks a clear solution for the withdrawal of foreign troops, it will have to answer a fundamental question: “what is the priority of the current government?” “I wonder what is the good of neutrality when we pretend not to notice the presence of foreign troops on our soil?”, Nantoi concluded. IPAP entered in force in late August 2006. According to the Plan, Moldova’s main political and reform objectives are to strengthen cooperation with the European and Euro-Atlantic institutions; to consolidate the territorial integrity and strengthen relationships with the neighbours; to carry out democratic reforms, and other.