print version

Although to a less degree than President and Government, still the Parliament was actively involved in foreign affairs throughout 2002. Moldovan delegations undertook very important official visits abroad, whereas Chisinau hosted delegations from Russia, China and various international parliamentary institutions. In 2002 Parliament overtook on a rotation basis the Presidency of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Black Sea Economic Cooperation. Also, Moldovan deputies adopted a series of legal acts and ratified international acts and treaties.

I). In 2002, Parliament ratified several CIS acts, mainly related to the CIS Summit hosted in Chisinau.

The following are the most significant acts:

1. Law on withdrawing objections to the Agreement on CIS Establishment.

   ADEPT comment: The Parliament decided to withdraw the objections it had on foreign policy coordination among CIS countries. The said objections had a formal character. Needless to say those provisions are not enforced until today and each state decides on its own the foreign policy.

2. Laws on ratification of CIS Agreements: Agreement on boosting small and medium business in CIS; Cooperative Agreement between CIS member states on mass media; Cooperative Agreement on establishing a single education space in CIS; Cooperative Agreement on fighting IT offence; Cooperative Agreement on fighting illegal immigration; Cooperative Agreement on trade fairs within CIS, etc.

   Despite the success achieved in relations with CIS countries, Republic of Moldova failed to negotiate free economic trade agreement within CIS. That is why this would remain a priority for the next year, in particular with regard to Ukraine, which continues to impose the rules of the game.

II). Due to the close monitoring by the Council of the Europe and in order to fight the negative tendencies affecting European Community, in 2002 Republic of Moldova ratified a series of European Conventions, as follows:

1. European Convention on canceling the legalization conducted by Diplomatic Agencies or Consulates.

2. Convention on money laundering, tracing and confiscating the income derived from illegal activities.

   ADEPT comment: Ratification of the said Convention and its enforcement is viewed as an attempt of the relevant country to fight money laundering and would eventually lead to the country exclusion from the list of countries with high business risk.

3. Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and Council of Europe on the Status of the Council of Europe Information Bureau in Moldova.

III). It is worth mentioning the following bilateral Agreements ratified by the Moldovan Parliament:

1. Addendum to the Agreement between the Romanian Government and Government of the Republic of Moldova on the long-term loan worth 20 billion Romanian Lei, signed in Bucharest on September 1, 1993 and amended via the Addendum signed on January 17, 2000.

   ADEPT comment: Noteworthy, the ratification of the said document was the formal condition for resuming the relay of Romanian 1 Channel on the soil of the Republic of Moldova.

2. Convention between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and Government of Italy on canceling double taxation of income tax and fighting tax evasion, Additional Protocol to the Agreement.

3. Convention between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and Government of Canada on canceling double taxation of income tax and fighting tax evasion.

4. Cooperative Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Moldova and International Migration Organization.

IV). During 2002 the Parliament also focussed on fighting international terrorism and ratified the following acts:

1. International Convention against hostage taking;

2. International Convention on abolishing terrorism financing;

3. International Convention on fighting bomb terrorism.