Moldova And Nato

NATO and Moldova Author: Ionut Ovejanu – University of Bucharest Abstract: NATO membership is the only present-day efficient option for ensuring the national security of the Republic of Moldova. The cooperation with the Allies and the NATO Partner States in a wide range of other sectors within the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC) represents an important step in this direction. However, the ethnonational structure of a state should not affect its development in a negative manner. On the contrary, it must be used in the interest of the respective state. Keywords: NATO, Moldova, IPAP, EAPC, Pfp The North Atlantic Treaty, signed in Washington in April 1949, led to the creation of an alliance of common defense in the spirit of the Article 51 of the United Nations Charter. The treaty, which has an indeterminate duration, was adhered to by 14 European states together with the United States and Canada. This is how NATO was born. Since then, the organization has developed rapidly becoming attractive for other countries as well and, according to Article 10 of the Treaty, it stays open for all European states which might adhere to it in the future in order to contribute to the safety of the North Atlantic region. In this respect NATO has set up the Euro-Atlantic Council, conceived as a consultancy and cooperation forum with the Partner States in the Euro-Atlantic area. In all the time that has passed since its foundation the Alliance made progresses in completing the policy and decisional institutions, thus showing a visible transformation. This transformation can be noticed in the security environment, in the strategic concept of the Alliance, in the role played by the Allied Military Forces, as well as in the building of the European security. (Source: Wikipedia - http://en.wikipedia.org ) The Alliance is looking into the future and remains open for new members as part of the evolution process consisting in the development of security policies all over Europe. NATO membership is the only present-day efficient option for ensuring the national security of the Republic of Moldova. The likelihood of its integration into the Alliance will represent an intermediate stage of development, which, through the approach to the western states, will considerably facilitate the European integration of Moldova. The results of a survey undertaken by the Sociological Investigation Center CBS – AXA together with the Soros Foundation, shows that 38.4% of the respondents think that a beneficial solution for ensuring the security of the Republic of Moldova would be the keeping of its neutrality, 26.2% deem the neutrality statute should be modified such as the country were able to adhere to NATO, while 38.4% of those interviewed didn’t know what to say. Those people considering the adherence to NATO is a good option fall within the following age brackets: 29.5% are between 18 and 29, 27% between 30 and 44, 25.4% between 45 and 59 and 20.8% are more than 60 years old. Of those who voted for NATO adherence 27.9% declared themselves to be Moldovans, 56.4% Romanians, 16.1% Russians, 10.3% Ukrainians, 7.3% Gagauzians and 11.6% Bulgarians. If a referendum for the adherence of the Republic of Moldova to NATO were organized tomorrow 29% of the people would vote yea, 27% would vote nay, 26.7% would be irresolute,

and 7.4% would not participate in the voting. The rest of 10% did not give an answer. The survey was applied to 1,100 people having voting rights, the error margin being of 3%. (Source: http://www.moldova.org) The cooperation sectors, the reform plans and the political dialogue processes are detailed within the Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) of the Republic of Moldova, a document approved by common agreement with NATO for a two years period. The main sectors of cooperation include the strengthening of democratic control over the military forces, the planning of the defense budget, the issuing of a new training program for the military forces and the development of the 22nd Peace-Keeping Battalion’s capacity to work together with forces from other NATO states in crises management, as well as in peace-keeping operations. The Republic of Moldova cooperates with the Allies and the NATO Partner States in a wide range of other sectors, within the Partnership for Peace (PfP) and the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council (EAPC). Cooperation in the field of security By participating regularly to the training exercises within the PfP, Moldova has taken important steps for bringing closer its forces to interoperability with the Allies. Thus, Moldova contributes with several units of the 22nd Peace-Keeping Battalion, a transport aircraft and two transport helicopters to the PfP activities, under a “case by case” procedure. At the same time, Moldova has offered an airfield and some training facilities for the PfP activities and also hosted a series of exercises carried out under the PfP umbrella. In the fight against terrorism the Republic of Moldova brings its contribution by participating to the Partnership Action Plan against Terrorism (PAP – T). This implies intelligence and analyses sharing with NATO, cooperation with the Allies in the improvement of anti-terrorism national training capacities, as well as the bettering of security and transboundary infrastructures. More than that, Moldova has created an Anti-Terrorism Center within its own Intelligence and Security Center. NATO does not have a direct involvement in the process of resolving the conflict in the Transnistrean region. However, the Alliance considers that Russia must necessarily comply with the pledges it made in Istanbul, including the withdrawal of weapons and ammunition deposits from the Transnistrean region. Defense and security sector reform The defense and security sector are essential fields of cooperation in which NATO and individual allies hold a considerable expertise that could be employed by Moldova in the region. A key priority is the cooperation in the establishing of a democratic control over military forces. At the same time, the Alliance is supporting the larger and larger process of democratic, institutional and juridical reform, which is now in progress in Moldova. By consulting the NATO, the Republic of Moldova has issued strategic documents with a view to the reform in the defense and security sector, which will offer the necessary guidelines for the developing of the Defense Strategic Analysis. The consultations on the necessary steps that have to be taken in order to set up a defense plan and a budget system, elements that will be key instruments in the coordination and implementation of the Strategic Defense, are in full swing. The Alliance continues to assist Moldova in the process of building up some modern, mobile and highly trained forces, well equipped and cost-effective, which could be interoperational with the Allied forces. Among the key reform projects one could mention the improvement of command and control structures, military logistic and personnel management, as well as the training and strengthening of Moldova’s transboundary patrolling capacities, from the perspective of its intention to join the Operational Capacity Concept. Civil emergency planning The civil emergency planning is a priority field of cooperation between Moldova and the Allies. By participating in the activities organized by the Euro-Atlantic Disaster Response Coordination Center (EADRCC) the Republic of Moldova will be able do develop its national capacities for managing the civil emergencies and disasters. In addition, Moldova is working both on the improvement of its legislative framework, in order to be able to cope with such emergency situations, and on the setting up of an informational system that should allow the coordination of the activities in the event of the occurrence of an emergency situation. (Appendix 1)

Russian Operational Task Force in Moldova. (Source: Federation of American Scientists (FAS) - http://www.fas.org ) Science and environment Within the Science for Peace and Security (SPS) Program, the Republic of Moldova has been receiving logistic support for cooperation projects, which include studies for reducing seismic risk and equipment for river monitoring activities. Beside, Moldova is willing to intensify the scientific cooperation. The key development fields might be the research in the anti-terrorism province, the problems of hazardous chemicals and the reducing of the risk and impact of radiological contamination of the environment. Moldova and the Alliance aim at improving public information and the free access to information regarding the NATO and the benefits of cooperation between the NATO and Moldova. (Appendix 1) The evolution of the ethnic factor, both as an element of social unrest and as an element of national security has a major impact on the development of the Republic of Moldova, as well as on its adherence to the Alliance. In the past, the aboriginal population was living on this territory together with Ukrainians, Greeks, Armenians, Gypsies and Jews. In comparison with the natives (Moldovans/Romanians), until the 19 th century alogenic population accounted for less than 10% of the total. Between the 16th and 17th centuries this ratio kept relatively stable. Until the 19th century, the demographic and ethnic structure of the Republic of Moldova suffered slow and minor changes, but since then the situation has changed significantly with respect to the number of inhabitants, including the number of people belonging to the various ethnic groups. The alteration of the social-economic and political situation of the Republic of Moldova following its inclusion into the Russian Empire in 1812 and the politics performed by the czarist administration led to the modification of the ethnic structure of the population. The exact ethnic composition of Moldova’s population up to the 19th century is hard to estimate, inasmuch as precise and concrete statistical data are missing. As a matter of fact, the first official statistics about the national structure of the country came out only in 1897. Data regarding the population on this territory are found around the year 1812 in an account that goes by the name of “Vedomosti”, which appeared under the signature of admiral Ciceagov, in which it was said that the population of the Republic of Moldova of those times counted 41,000 families or more

than 240,000 people. In another document, issued by Skalkovski in 1813, the population of the Republic of Moldova was said to be more than 55,000 families or more than 340,000 people. Z. Arbure claims that in 1812, when Moldova was annexed to Russia, more than 320,000 – 350,000 Romanians of both sexes lived in the country, whereas the total figure of the foreign element was less than 20,000 – 25,000 people. Although the data are different they manage to create a general picture of those times, showing that the territory was poorly inhabited. In 1817, General Bahmentiev, governor of the Republic of Moldova, conducted the first census ordered by Russia, which emphasized that 96,526 families or 491,679 people inhabited the annexed province. In the 19th century Moldova experienced pretty great changes in its ethnical structure. Thus, if at the beginning of the century the Moldovans accounted for 78.2% of the whole population by the end of the same century the percentage dropped by 26.1%, reaching the value of 52.1%. By contrast, the percentage of people of other nationalities grew as follows: Ukrainians by 4.6%, Russians by 4.4%, Jews by 10.6% (the highest increase), Germans by 1.5%, Bulgarians and Gagauzians by 4.3%. The number of Armenians and Gypsies recorded a slight decrease, Armenians by 0.3% and Gypsies by 0.1%. As far as the Transnistrean territory is concerned, during the 19th century the number of Moldovans dropped from 7.3% in 1851 to 5.4% in 1897. Ukrainians, too, were in decline, while the Russians and the Jews recorded an important increase, by 19% and 6.7%, respectively. Also an increase, but to a lesser extent, was apparent in the case of Germans, Bulgarians, Serbs and Polish. In order to get a clear picture of this phenomenon it is useful to turn to the Romanian census of 1930, which was reflected in the Ethnographic Charter of Romania by Vintilă Mihăilescu, and also to the census of 2004 of the Republic of Moldova. Both sources highlight the ethnic evolution of the Moldovan territory and provide potential solutions for the interethnic tensions that have accumulated in this country. To illustrate the situation it is good to have a look at the number of people belonging to different ethnic groups that were living in several settlements of Moldova at the census of 1930: Lipcani (Jews – 5,000; Germans – 2,000), Soroca (Jews – 1,000; Germans – 500), Nicoresti (Jews – 3,000; Russians 1,500), Balti (Jews – 14,000; Russians – 5,000; Germans – 300; Polish – 1,000; Ukrainians – 200), Telenesti (Jews – 2,800), Ungheni (Jews – 1,450), Orhei (Jews – 600; Russians – 100), Chisinau (Jews – 20,000; Russians – 10,200; Germans – 1,000; Gagauzians – 100), Hartop Hasan (Gagauzian – 100), Cismila (Jews – 950), Tighina (Russians – 15,000; Jews – 8,000; Ukrainians – 1,350; Gagauzians – 50), Causeni (Jews – 1,850; Russians – 350). Needless to say that Romanians represented the rest of the population of each settlement. The census of 2004 shows a significant diminution of some ethnic groups and an increase of some others, as one can see in Appendix 2. During the period of the Soviet Union important ethnographic changes took place as a result of forced and voluntary migrations of the population of the former socialist republics. In 1959, Romanians had a share of 64.6% of Moldova’s total population, value that stayed about the same in 1989, too. Theoretically, the percentage of Moldovans/Romanians should have been higher in 1989 in comparison with 1959, because they occupied one of the top positions in USSR according to the natality rate. Therefore, one can conclude that migrations from other republics did not succeed in radically changing the ethnic structure of the population, which continued to keep about the same percentage as in 1959. N. Dima appreciates that during a decade (1960 – 1970) about 83,000 Russians, 48,000 Ukrainians and 8,000 Jews came to settle down on the Moldovan territory. According to the data of 1993, Tiraspol was inhabited by approximately 203,000 people, of which 83,800 were Russians (41.3%), 65,300 Ukrainians (32.2%) and 35,900 Moldovans (17.7%), while 17,900 (that is 8.8%) belonged to other nationalities. Tiraspol national structure differed significantly from the composition of Transnistrean cities and counties by the fact that Moldovans were fewer and Russians outnumbered them by far. In Transnistria, Moldovans represented 31.1%, Russians 30.1%, Ukrainians 28.0% and other nationalities only 7.8% of the whole population. The ethnonational structure of a state should not exert a negative effect on its development. On the contrary, it must be used to the interest of the respective state.

A brief chronology of the events that have to do with NATO and the Republic of Moldova: 1992 1994 1997 2002 2005 2006

2007

Moldova joins the North Atlantic Cooperation Council, renamed the Euro-Atlantic Partnership Council in 1997. Moldova joins the Partnership for Peace (PfP). Moldova joins the PfP Planning and Review Process. A Moldovan platoon participates in a civil emergency relief exercise in Russia with Allies and Partner countries. Moldova hosts a PfP Civil Protection Committee plenary meeting in September. President Voronin visits NATO Headquarters in June Moldova agrees its first Individual Partnership Action Plan (IPAP) with NATO. Moldova hosts the PfP training exercises ”Cooperative Longbow” and ”Cooperative Lancer”. President Voronin visits NATO Headquarters in June IPAP assessment identifies areas of progress and issues to be addressed. President Voronin visits NATO Headquarters in December.

Conclusions: The NATO support for maintaining the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Moldova is still a main topic on the discussion list. NATO is and remains the only efficient security solution for the Republic of Moldova and adhering to this organization would mean direct foreign investment opportunities of about 2 billion dollars per year. There is a strong connection between the country’s security and the volume of direct foreign investments, which means the integration in the Alliance could generate more than 20,000 jobs every year. More than that, it is well known that no country of the Eastern space has been able to join the European Union without first integrating into NATO.

Bibliography 1. Planul de acţiuni UE-RM, Chişinău 2006 2. Avram I., UE şi aderarea României, Bucureşti 2001 3. Ipp, Noile frontiere în Europa de sud-est RM, Ucraina, România, Ştiinţa 2002 4. Constituţia Republicii Moldova. Chişinău, 1994 5. NATO Handbook, Brussel, Blegium, 1998 6. NATO's Secret Armies - Operation Gladio and Terrorism în Western Europe , 2005 7. Vintila Mihaielescu - Atlasul Etnic al Romaniei - 1930 Web Sources: www.nato.md / www.europa.md / www.e-democracy.md / www.nato.mae.ro / www.moldova.org

Appendix 1

(Source: GRID-Arendal - United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) - http://www.grida.no/ )

Appendix 2

(Source: Center for Minorities Problems (CPM) - http://www.cmi-md.org )