The first proposals to adopt a neutrality law were submitted in 2015. On March 31, 2016, there was adopted the Statement of the Parliament of the Republic of Moldova concerning the inviolability, sovereignty, independence and permanent neutrality of the Republic of Moldova. The Party of Socialists has been working on a bill on permanent neutrality since 2020. “Our obligation, as MPs, is to interpret the law, including the Constitution. In this situation, when there is a vacuum, when particular political forces can maneuver a particular notion, which is what the international organizations and large states do, we must have perfectly clear legislation with clearly defined limits as tomorrow or the day after tomorrow we can see rockets flying above the Republic of Moldova,” Adrian Lebedinschi, MP of the Bloc of Communists and Socialists, said in a public debate staged by IPN.
To defend its space, the Republic of Moldova should specify what permanent neutrality means. The relevant legislation should ban use of Moldova’s airspace by foreign planes and rockets and the transportation of armament and munitions through its territory for the parties involved in a conflict. “Our main task is to promote these provisions in all the international organizations of which we are a party, members, observers. We must impose our position so that it is recognized at international level or someone will profit from our situation,” explained Adrian Lebedinschi.
According to the MP, a law on Moldova’s permanent neutrality is in the interests not of the party or the political bloc of which he forms part, but of the citizens. “This bill is not politicized as we proposed from the start that all the political forces of the Republic of Moldova, including the extraparliamentary ones, should take part in this working group so that we have a law that would be adopted by consensus. There were invited specialists, such as military experts and international law experts, so that this bill is a good one and contains the necessary norms,” said Adrian Lebedinschi.
“By the provisions we include in this bill, we support cooperation for humanitarian purposes and for research purposes in the case of all the institutions of the Republic of Moldova. Only these two purposes will be specified. The military aspect will be avoided. We should address only research and communication in the humanitarian sphere with all the organizations.”
The public debate titled “Moldova’s status of neutrality: How shall we turn aspiration into shield: Legislative and political reflections with flame of war nearby” was the 228th installment of IPN’s project “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates” that is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
