Mine Ban Policy

The Republic of Moldova signed the Mine Ban Treaty on 3 December 1997 and ratified it on 8 September 2000, becoming a State Party on 1 March 2001. Moldova has not enacted any legal measures to implement the treaty domestically as it believes that the 2002 Criminal Code covers all aspects necessary for adequate implementation of the treaty.[1]

In 2012, Moldova submitted its twelfth Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report, covering calendar year 2011.[2] It has cited no changes since 2006.

Moldova attended the Tenth Meeting of States Parties to the Mine Ban Treaty in Geneva in November–December 2010, but did not attend the Eleventh Meeting of States Parties in 2011. In May 2012, Moldova attended the intersessional Standing Committee meetings, but did not make any statements.

In 2006, Moldova expressed its views on key issues of interpretation and implementation related to Articles 1, 2, and 3 of the Mine Ban Treaty, when it made strong statements in agreement with the positions of the ICBL and many States Parties.[3]

Moldova is party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW) and its Amended Protocol II on landmines. It submitted an annual Article 13 report in March 2012, indicating that all information remained unchanged since the last report.

Production, transfer, stockpiling, and mines retained

Moldova has stated that it has never produced, imported, or exported antipersonnel mines. It destroyed its stockpile of 13,194 antipersonnel mines inherited from the Soviet Union in 2002, as part of a destruction program managed by the NATO Maintenance and Supply Agency.[4] 

In 2002, Moldova declared it would retain 849 antipersonnel mines for training. It reported destroying a number of these during 2004, indicating that 249 were retained for training. In 2006, Moldova destroyed the remaining 249 antipersonnel mines.[5]

Transdniester Region

Since a 1992 military conflict, the Moldova government does not control the Transdniester region, which accounts for 11% of the territory of Moldova; the region declared independence on 2 September 1990 as the Pridnestrovie Moldavian Republic (Pridnestrovskaya Moldavskaya Respublika, PMR). It has not been recognized internationally. Both sides used landmines when fighting broke out between Moldova and the PMR in 1992.[6] PMR forces maintain control of the Transdniester region, while a July 1992 cease-fire agreement established a tripartite peacekeeping force comprised of Moldovan, Russian, and PMR units; negotiations to resolve the conflict continue. The Russian (formerly Soviet) 14th Army has been based in the Transdniester region of Moldova since 1956.

Since 2003, Moldova has continuously stated that the implementation of the convention is limited to a part of its national territory, as “the Government of the Republic of Moldova has no information concerning the implementation of the Convention in the Transnistrian Region of the Republic of Moldova currently controlled by an anti-constitutional regime of Tiraspol.”[7] Additionally, “the Government of the Republic of Moldova also doesn't have any information concerning antipersonnel mines belonging to the Russian Federation that are presently stockpiled in the Transnistrian region.”[8]

Policy

The Republic of Moldova signed the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 3 December 2008 and ratified on 16 February 2010. It was among the first 30 ratifications to trigger the convention’s entry into force on 1 August 2010.

Moldova has declared its ratification legislation under national implementation measures and reported that the Criminal Code “envisages penal sanctions for the storage, purchase, selling and use of weapons and ammunitions.”[1]

Moldova submitted its initial Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 report on 27 January 2011 and provided annual updated reports in 2012 and 2013 indicating no change.[2]

Moldova participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[3] It participated in the convention’s Meeting of States Parties in 2010, 2011, and 2012, but did not attend the Fourth Meeting of States Parties in Lusaka, Zambia in September 2013. Moldova participated in the convention’s intersessional meetings in Geneva in 2012 and 2013, but did not attend the meetings held in April 2014.

Moldova has voted in favor of recent UN General Assembly (UNGA) resolutions condemning the Syrian government’s use of cluster munitions, including Resolution 68/182 on 18 December 2013, which expressed “outrage” at Syria’s “continued widespread and systematic gross violations of human rights…including those involving the use of…cluster munitions.”[4]

Moldova has yet to provide its views on a number of issues important for the interpretation and implementation of the convention, such as the prohibitions on transit, foreign stockpiling, assistance with prohibited acts in joint military operations, and investment in cluster munition production. In a September 2011 statement, Moldova highlighted the importance of a “uniform understanding of those provisions that raise problems of interpretation, including on the interpretation of the relationship between Articles 1 and 21.”[5] It also stated that “like Norway and others, Moldova does not believe live submunitions are necessary for training.”[6]

Moldova is a State Party to the Mine Ban Treaty. It is also party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons.

Use, production, and transfer

In 2009, Moldova stated, “The Republic of Moldova has never produced, used, nor does it plan to use, stockpile or transfer cluster munitions.”[7] In its 2011 Article 7 report, Moldova declared that it has no production facilities for antipersonnel landmines. Moldova also declared that it “did not use or abandon cluster munitions on the territory of other states.”[8] In 2001, Moldova reported the transfer of 860 9M27K rockets to Guinea during the previous year.[9]

Moldovan authorities have stated that they have no information about possible use, transfer, or stockpiling of cluster munitions by the military forces of the breakaway region of Transnistria or by Russian military forces still stationed there.[10] Moldovan authorities have repeatedly called for a fact-finding mission to be sent in Transnistria to gather information on stockpiled weapons and ensure their removal and destruction.[11] In its Article 7 report, Moldova said that if cluster munitions were identified in the Transnistrian region, support and financial assistance could be needed to ensure implementation of Moldova’s stockpile destruction obligations under the convention.[12]

Stockpile destruction

Moldova inherited a stockpile of cluster munitions from the former Soviet Union.[13] In its initial Article 7 report, it declared a stockpile of 1,385 cluster munitions and 27,050 submunitions.[14] This included 473 9M27K Uragan 220mm surface-to-surface rockets containing a total of 14,190 9N210 fragmentation submunitions that were destroyed by the Moldovan National Army in 2006.[15]

When Moldova signed the convention in December 2008, it possessed 78 air-delivered cluster bombs produced by the Soviet Union from 1961–1987 and 834 3-O-13 152mm cluster munition artillery projectiles.[16]

Moldova completed the destruction of stockpiled cluster munitions on 29 July 2010, two days before the convention’s entry into force.[17] Moldovan Army engineers carried out the stockpile destruction at the Bulboaca destruction site near Chisinau, using a combination of methods including dismantling, burning, and detonation.[18]

Retention

Moldova has stated that it will not acquire or retain any live cluster munitions for training and research purposes.[19] It has declared the retention of 19 submunitions that have been rendered free from explosives for training and display purposes.[20]

Contamination and Impact

Mines

Moldova believes that territory under its control is not mine-affected.[1] Moldova reported previously that it had completed the destruction of all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its control by August 2000.[2] Antipersonnel and antivehicle mines are occasionally found during clearance of explosive remnants of war (ERW) across the entire country.

The extent to which the breakaway region of Transnistria is mine-affected remains unclear. In its Mine Ban Treaty Article 7 report for calendar year 2005, Moldova claimed that there were no mined areas containing antipersonnel mines on territory under its control, while acknowledging that it had no information on the situation in the breakaway region of Transnistria, which Moldova considers part of its territory.[3] Subsequent Article 7 reports have been marked “unchanged.”[4]

Cluster munition remnants

There is no evidence of cluster munition remnants on territory under the control of the government of Moldova. It is unclear whether the breakaway region of Transnistria is affected by cluster munition remnants, although there have been no reports of such contamination. Moldova became a State Party to the Convention on Cluster Munitions on 1 August 2010. In its initial transparency report in accordance with Article 7 of the Convention, the section on cluster-munition-contaminated areas under its jurisdiction or control (Form F) was reported as “not applicable” and a note added to the effect that “The Republic of Moldova is not a CMC [Cluster Munition Contaminated] affected country.”[5]

Other explosive remnants of war

Moldova is affected by other ERW left over from World War II, as well as “some dumping from the former Soviet military bases.”[6] According to local press reports, ERW are said to be found two or three times a month in Transnistria. The most affected localities are said to be Bender, Parcani, and Slobozea.[7]

Mine Action Program

There is no national mine action authority or mine action center in Moldova. All demining in Moldova is the responsibility of the National Army.[8]

Land Release

Since completing major clearance operations in 2000, Moldova has primarily cleared ERW. While the number of detected and destroyed ERW is significant, only a very few mines have been found in territory under the control of the government of Moldova in recent years.[9]

Transnistria may be mine-affected. Local media in Transnistria occasionally report instances of significant quantities of ordnance, including mines, being found there. For example, in August 2008 it was reported that 510 antipersonnel mines dating back to World War II had been found near Bender,[10] and in September 2009 it was reported that 304 Soviet-era antivehicle mines had been found near Ribnitsa.[11] In the former conflict area along the Nistru river where there was fighting in 1990–1992, arms and ammunition are reportedly found on a regular basis; these are disposed of by sappers attached to the joint Russian/Moldovan/Transnistria peacekeeping force in the area.[12]

Compliance with Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty

Under Article 5 of the Mine Ban Treaty, Moldova was required to destroy all antipersonnel mines in mined areas under its jurisdiction or control as soon as possible, but not later than 1 March 2011. During the Intersessional Standing Committee meetings in June 2008, Moldova stated that in “carrying out in good faith the obligations which it assumed by the Ottawa Convention, the Republic of Moldova completed, inter alia, the destruction of all anti-personnel mines far ahead of the established deadlines under Articles 4 and 5.”[13]

According to Moldova, it is already in compliance with Article 5 since it already destroyed all antipersonnel mines in mined areas in the territory under its control. With regard to the Transnistria region, which Moldova considers part of its territory but which it does not currently control, Moldova claims that until de facto control by the central government is restored, it has no obligation in Transnistria.[14]

Further, in contrast to the position it has expressed previously, in 2008 an official from the Moldovan Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration declared that Moldova would need to request an extension to its Article 5 deadline.[15] In March 2009, however, an official from the same ministry contradicted this statement, stating that until the Moldovan government had restored its control over the territory of Transnistria, all discussions on this issue “would be irrelevant.”[16] The official repeated the statement in March 2010.[17] Moldova did not request an extension to its Article 5 deadline.

The Article 5 obligations, however, apply to all areas under a State Party’s jurisdiction as well as to areas under its control. Accordingly, the ICBL believes that should there remain any mined areas under Moldova’s jurisdiction but not its control, including in Transnistria, in order to be in compliance with the treaty, Moldova will need to have been granted an extension to its deadline.[18]