Two serious things happened this Thursday: the Russian Federation launched a military attack on the neighboring Ukraine and the Parliament of Moldova declared a state of emergency for a 90-day period nationwide. These are two closely related things that should be examined together. Experts invited to IPN’s public debate “Position and actions of Moldova in new conditions of security” discussed why it was necessary to declare a state of emergency and how this can help solve the new problems besides the existing ones.
According to Igor Boțan, the standing expert of IPN’s project, the state of emergency is usually declared when there are pandemics, natural disasters or when there is a danger of war. The relevant legislation of the Republic of Moldova is developed and reached a perfection point owing to the pandemic, especially after the Venice Commission in April 2020 issued a document and recommendations for the states of the Council of Europe to bring their legislation and normative framework on the state of emergency in order, primarily because the state of emergency is sometimes used to justify the encroachment upon citizens’ rights.
The expert said the state of emergency in the Republic of Moldova is stipulated by the law on civil protection, which perfectly matches the Moldovan constitutional framework. In accordance with the Constitution and the law on civil protection, Parliament is the institution that declares a state of emergency at the request of the Government. The general civil protection management is conducted by the Government that sets up a Commission for Exceptional Situations that is led by the Prime Minister. Before the state of emergency was declared in Moldova on February 24, the Antiterrorism Center of the Security and Intelligence Service issued a yellow terror alert code nationwide.
Ex-minister of defense Viorel Cibotaru, director of the European Institute for Political Studies, expert in national and international security, said that besides the state of emergency, there are two more alert levels – the state of siege and the state of war. These are gradual and are issued not only when there are dangers, but also when the dangers are anticipated. ”It depends on how decisions are taken inside the Government, the central and local authorities and on the powers of the institutions responsible for this sector, such as the Ministry of Defense, the Ministry of the Interior, the Security and Intelligence Service, the local public administration or the managers of government agencies,” he said, noting the war is now about 60 km from Moldova and the declaring of the state of emergency is justified in such conditions.
According to Viorel Cibotaru, there are also such dangers as the flow of refugees that exerts major pressure on the country’s system not only at emotional level, but also at economic, social, security and transport levels. The energy and food security can also be in danger. The state of emergency is declared with the aim of maximally facilitating the taking of decisions when the supply of these resources is disrupted. There are also risks of cyber-attacks and the banking system, the governmental communication network, the social communication networks to which Moldova is connected can be attacked, and also risks associated with military conflicts, with the closure of the airspace being one of these risks.
Mihai Mogîldea, team leader of the Europeanization Program of the Institute for European Policies and Reforms (IPRE), said the internal dangers can be bigger in the near future and these refer to the internal security of the Republic of Moldova, including those related to the Transnistrian region, the proper management of the flow of Ukrainian migrants so that there are no incidents where the refugees go. “The dangers should be managed. The authorities cope rather well in this regard and the Ministry of the Interior has appropriate communication on public order. The information about the situation on the border provided by the Customs Service and the Border Police shows there were no incidents for now and no dangers to the country’s security existed. At the same time, we should follow the developments in the Security Zone so as to see eventual signs of worsening of the situation, if there are such,” he stated.
According to Mihai Mogîldea, attention should be focused on an active dialogue with the Ukrainian authorities so as to see the developments in the border zone of the Republic of Moldova. “Moldova should take care of the Ukrainian refugees who cross the border of the Republic of Moldova and should analyze the developments in the Transnistrian region so as to see the signals coming from there. An active dialogue between the Moldova institutions on the security sector is needed and the public communication of the Ministry of Defense should be improved as we haven’t seen any press briefings, news conferences of the minister, participation in programs. The minister should talk to the press as this is very important now,” said the IPRE expert.
The public debate titled “Position and actions of Moldova in new conditions of security” was the 226th installment of the series “Developing Political Culture through Public Debates”. IPN’s project is supported by the Hanns Seidel Foundation.
