Diaspora
Moldovan government approves national programme on visa free regime with EU
Reading Time: 4 minutes The cabinet members approved a national programme on the implementation of the Moldova – EU action plan on the visa liberalization.
Prime Minister Vlad Filat chaired a government meeting today, the cabinet’s communications and press relations department has said.
At the beginning of the meeting, the prime minister asked the Moldtelecom fixed telephony operator to suspend the adjustment of prices for fixed telephony services. At the same time, Filat asked the National Competition Protection Agency to set forth its opinion on whether Moldtelecom is a company which holds monopoly on fixed telephony services.
"I understand that there is a cartel agreement not between economic agents, but between state institutions. In 2007, the agency established that Moldtelecom has such a position and that any adjustment of the tariffs should be coordinated with the government, but it abrogated its own decision before the so-called adjustment," the prime minister said.
The prime minister asked Moldtelecom to coordinate its price increase decisions with the government. Vlad Filat also called on the company not to use the diaspora to justify the rise in prices.
Also today, the prime minister asked Agriculture and Food Minister Vasile Bumacov to exclude the farmers who violate the import rules from the list of those who have the right to sell their goods. The action is aimed at ruling out any conflicts with the countries where the products are exported. The decision comes after the Russian Phytosanitary Service informed that a high content of toxic substances had been found in the apples and potatoes imported from Moldova.
Also at the today’s meeting, Vlad Filat asked Foreign and European Integration Minister Iurie Leanca, as well as law enforcement bodies’ representatives to prepare a visit to Moldova by the head of the EU diplomacy Catherine Ashton, due on 3-4 March, by U.S. Vice President Joseph Biden, who is to come to Chisinau on 11 March, as well as by Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, who is to visit Moldova in late March 2011.
The cabinet members approved a national programme on the implementation of the Moldova – EU action plan on the visa liberalization. Under the document, the ministries and other central administrative authorities will ensure, in line with their powers, the strict observance of the programme in the set timeframe. The Foreign and European Integration Ministry is in charge of checking the fulfillment of the present decision. The programme includes the foremost reforms, a calendar plan, competent authorities and the implementation deadlines. The programme also sees measures to adjust the legislative framework, to shift to the biometric passports and to tighten the security of IDs, borders, migration, fight against corruption, etc.
The participants in the meeting approved the government action plan for 2011-2014. The document was worked out on the basis of proposals by central public authorities. The prime minister said that it is for the first time that the government’s action plan is approved for a four-year period. The reasons for such an approach reside in ensuring the correlation of public policies with the present framework of resources, with the budgetary planning being carried out for a three-year period. Also, this format will ensure the existence of a framework of policies when the per-sector spending strategies will be elaborated and in which the resources for financing the priority actions are distributed.
The government approved a draft law on the ratification of a contract of financing between Moldova and the European Investment Bank, signed in Chisinau on 23 November 2010. The agreement sees a 75-million-euro loan to be given to the Moldovan government. The proceeds will be used to finance investment projects of restoring and upgrading wine-making and vine-growing companies.
At the same time, the cabinet approved a decision by the council of heads of government of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) on a plan of measures meant to settle the social problems faced by the veterans’ organizations from the CIS member states, passed in St Petersburg on 21 May 2010.
Also today, the government approved a draft law on the completion of Article 14 from the law on the normative price and ways to sell and purchase lands from 25 July 1997. This draft will make it possible to use the money accumulated to compensate losses and exclude lands from the agricultural circuit exclusively to carry out a programme of turning to account new lands and enhancing the soils’ fertility. The government also approved a sanitary and veterinary norm on requirements to the import and placement of some water culture goods on the market, and establishes conditions for the import and sale of some fish species.
Another draft law approved by the cabinet regards ways to prevent and combat discrimination, worked out by the Justice Ministry. The draft stemmed from the need to adjust the legislation to the EU standards and is a condition of the Moldova-EU action plan on the visa free regime.
Also today, the government gave full powers to Agriculture and Food Minister Vasile Bumacov to sign a financing agreement between Moldova and the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), in order to implement a project of rural financial services and agricultural business development in Moldova.
The cabinet members approved the nominal composition of the government s side within the national commission for consultations and collective negotiations.
The government also decided that 7 March 2011 shall be a day-off and the day of 12 March will be a working day.
The cabinet adopted a string of economic decisions. It approved amendments and completions to measures for the state to coordinate and regulate prices. The document clearly sees the basis of applying the trade supplement to the sale of goods.
The participants in the meeting also amended a list of settlements that will benefit from facilities to mitigate the consequences of the last summer floods. The cabinet members proposed that some settlements should be excluded and replaced by new ones. At the same time, the cabinet made amendments to a regulation on the way of allocating money to make up for the material damage inflicted to private households.
The government today appointed Anatol Onceanu as cabinet’s deputy secretary general. Earlier, he served as deputy state minister. Also today, Victor Tutuc was dismissed from the office of head of the General Inspectorate of Phytosanitary Supervision and Seed Control, and Ghenadie Onceanu was appointed to this post.
A new football club has earned a leading place in the UEFA Champions League groups and starred in the headlines of worldwide football news yesterday. The Football Club Sheriff Tiraspol claimed a win with the score 2-1 against Real Madrid on the Santiago Bernabeu Stadium in Madrid. That made Sheriff Tiraspol the leader in Group D of the Champions League, including the football club in the groups of the most important European interclub competition for the first time ever.
International media outlets called it a miracle, a shock and a historic event, while strongly emphasizing the origin of the team and the existing political conflict between the two banks of the Dniester. “Football club from a pro-Russian separatist enclave in Moldova pulls off one of the greatest upsets in Champions League history,” claimed the news portals. “Sheriff crushed Real!” they said.
Moldovans made a big fuss out of it on social media, splitting into two groups: those who praised the team and the Republic of Moldova for making history and those who declared that the football club and their merits belong to Transnistria – a problematic breakaway region that claims to be a separate country.
Both groups are right and not right at the same time, as there is a bunch of ethical, political, social and practical matters that need to be considered.
Is it Moldova?
First of all, every Moldovan either from the right or left bank of Dniester (Transnistria) is free to identify himself with this achievement or not to do so, said Vitalie Spranceana, a sociologist, blogger, journalist and urban activist. According to him, boycotting the football club for being a separatist team is wrong.
At the same time, “it’s an illusion to think that territory matters when it comes to football clubs,” Spranceana claimed. “Big teams, the ones included in the Champions League, have long lost their connection both with the countries in which they operate, and with the cities in which they appeared and to which they linked their history. […] In the age of globalized commercial football, teams, including the so-called local ones, are nothing more than global traveling commercial circuses, incidentally linked to cities, but more closely linked to all sorts of dirty, semi-dirty and cleaner cash flows.”
What is more important in this case is the consistency, not so much of citizens, as of politicians from the government who have “no right to celebrate the success of separatism,” as they represent “the national interests, not the personal or collective pleasures of certain segments of the population,” believes the political expert Dionis Cenusa. The victory of FC Sheriff encourages Transnistrian separatism, which receives validation now, he also stated.
“I don’t know how it happens that the “proud Moldovans who chose democracy”, in their enthusiasm for Sheriff Tiraspol’s victory over Real Madrid, forget the need for total and unconditional withdrawal of Russian troops from Transnistria!” declared the journalist Vitalie Ciobanu.
Nowadays, FC Sheriff Tiraspol has no other choice than to represent Moldova internationally. For many years, the team used the Moldovan Football Federation in order to be able to participate in championships, including international ones. That is because the region remains unrecognised by the international community. However, the club’s victory is presented as that of Transnistria within the region, without any reference to the Republic of Moldova, its separatist character being applied in this case especially.
Is it a victory?
In fact, FC Sheriff Tiraspol joining the Champions League is a huge image breakthrough for the Transnistrian region, as the journalist Madalin Necsutu claimed. It is the success of the Tiraspol Club oligarchic patrons. From the practical point of view, FC Sheriff Tiraspol is a sports entity that serves its own interests and the interests of its owners, being dependent on the money invested by Tiraspol (but not only) oligarchs.
Here comes the real dilemma: the Transnistrian team, which is generously funded by money received from corruption schemes and money laundering, is waging an unequal fight with the rest of the Moldovan football clubs, the journalist also declared. The Tiraspol team is about to raise 15.6 million euro for reaching the Champions League groups and the amounts increase depending on their future performance. According to Necsutu, these money will go directly on the account of the club, not to the Moldovan Football Federation, creating an even bigger gab between FC Sheriff and other football clubs from Moldova who have much more modest financial possibilities.
“I do not see anything useful for Moldovan football, not a single Moldovan player is part of FC Sheriff Tiraspol. I do not see anything beneficial for the Moldovan Football Federation or any national team.”
Is it only about football?
FC Sheriff Tiraspol, with a total estimated value of 12.8 million euros, is controlled by Victor Gusan and Ilya Kazmala, being part of Sheriff Holding – a company that controls the trade of wholesale, retail food, fuels and medicine by having monopolies on these markets in Transnistria. The holding carries out car trading activities, but also operates in the field of construction and real estate. Gusan’s people also hold all of the main leadership offices in the breakaway region, from Parliament to the Prime Minister’s seat or the Presidency.
The football club is supported by a holding alleged of smuggling, corruption, money laundering and organised crime. Moldovan media outlets published investigations about the signals regarding the Sheriff’s holding involvement in the vote mobilization and remuneration of citizens on the left bank of the Dniester who participated in the snap parliamentary elections this summer and who were eager to vote for the pro-Russian socialist-communist bloc.
Considering the above, there is a great probability that the Republic of Moldova will still be represented by a football club that is not identified as being Moldovan, being funded from obscure money, growing in power and promoting the Transnistrian conflict in the future as well.
Photo: unknown
Prime Minister of the Republic of Moldova, Natalia Gavrilita, together with Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, Nicu Popescu, pay an official visit to Brussels, between September 27-28, being invited by High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Josep Borrell Fontelles.
Today, Prime Minister had a meeting with Charles Michel, President of the European Council. The Moldovan PM thanked the senior European official for the support of the institution in strengthening democratic processes, reforming the judiciary and state institutions, economic recovery and job creation, as well as increasing citizens’ welfare. Natalia Gavrilita expressed her confidence that the current visit laid the foundations for boosting relations between the Republic of Moldova and the European Union, so that, in the next period, it would be possible to advance high-level dialogues on security, justice and energy. Officials also exchanged views on priorities for the Eastern Partnership Summit, to be held in December.
“The EU is open to continue to support the Republic of Moldova and the ambitious reform agenda it proposes. Moldova is an important and priority partner for us,” said Charles Michel.
Prime Minister Natalia Gavrilita also met with Paolo Gentiloni, European Commissioner for Economy, expressing her gratitude for the support received through the OMNIBUS macro-financial assistance program. The two officials discussed the need to advance the recovery of money from bank fraud, to strengthen sustainable mechanisms for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises in Moldova, and to standardize the customs and taxes as one of the main conditions for deepening cooperation with the EU in this field.
Additionally, Prime Minister spoke about the importance of the Eastern Partnership and the Deep Free Trade Agreement, noting that the Government’s policies are aimed at developing an economic model aligned with the European economic model, focused on digitalization, energy efficiency and the green economy.
A common press release of the Moldovan Prime Minister with High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy/Vice-President of the Commission, Josep Borrell Fontelles, took place today, where the agenda of Moldova’s reforms and the main priorities to focus on in the coming months were presented: judiciary reform; fighting COVID-19 pandemic; promoting economic recovery and conditions for growth and job creation; strengthening state institutions and resilience of the country.
“I am here to relaunch the dialogue between my country and the European Union. Our partnership is strong, but I believe there is room for even deeper cooperation and stronger political, economic and sectoral ties. I am convinced that this partnership is the key to the prosperity of our country and I hope that we will continue to strengthen cooperation.”
The Moldovan delegation met Didier Reynders, European Commissioner for Justice. Tomorrow, there are scheduled common meetings with Oliver Varhelyi, European Commissioner for Neighborhood and Enlargement, Adina Valean, European Commissioner for Transport and Kadri Simson, European Commissioner for Energy.
Prime Minister will also attend a public event, along with Katarina Mathernova, Deputy Director-General for Neighbourhood Policy and Enlargement Negotiations.
Photo: gov.md
Politics
Promo-LEX about Maia Sandu’s UN speech: The president must insist on appointing a rapporteur to monitor the situation of human rights in Transnistria
The President of the Republic of Moldova, Maia Sandu, pays an official visit to New York, USA, between September 21-22. There, she participates in the work of the United Nations General Assembly. According to a press release of the President’s Office, the official will deliver a speech at the tribune of the United Nations.
In this context, the Promo-LEX Association suggested the president to request the appointment of a special rapporteur in order to monitor the situation of human rights in the Transnistrian region. According to Promo-LEX, the responsibility for human rights violations in the Transnistrian region arises as a result of the Russian Federation’s military, economic and political control over the Tiraspol regime.
“We consider it imperative to insist on the observance of the international commitments assumed by the Russian Federation regarding the withdrawal of the armed forces and ammunition from the territory of the country,” the representatives of Promo-LEX stated. They consider the speech before the UN an opportunity “to demand the observance of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the Russian Federation with reference to this territory which is in its full control.”
“It is important to remember about the numerous cases of murder, torture, ill-treatment, forced enlistment in illegal military structures, the application of pseudo-justice in the Transnistrian region, all carried out under the tacit agreement of the Russian Federation. These findings stem from dozens of rulings and decisions issued by the European Court of Human Rights, which found that Russia is responsible for human rights violations in the region.”
The association representatives expressed their hope that the president of the country would give priority to issues related to the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region and would call on relevant international actors to contribute to guaranteeing fundamental human rights and freedoms throughout Moldova.
They asked Maia Sandu to insist on the observance of the obligation to evacuate the ammunition and the military units of the Russian Federation from the territory of the Republic of Moldova, to publicly support the need for the Russian Federation to implement the ECtHR rulings on human rights violations in the Transnistrian region, and to request the appointment of an UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur to monitor the human rights situation in the Transnistrian region of the Republic of Moldova.
**
The Promo-LEX Association concluded that 14 out of 25 actions planned within the National Action Plan for the years 2018–2022 concerning respecting human rights in Transnistria were not carried out by the responsible authorities.
The association expressed its concern and mentioned that there are a large number of delays in the planned results. “There is a lack of communication and coordination between the designated institutions, which do not yet have a common vision of interaction for the implementation of the plan.”
Promo-LEX requested the Government of the Republic of Moldova to re-assess the reported activities and to take urgent measures, “which would exclude superficial implementation of future activities and increase the level of accountability of the authorities.”
Photo: peacekeeping.un.org
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