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]