About Us
Our Research Products
Moldova
Cluster Munition Ban Policy
Commitment to the Convention on Cluster Munitions
|
Convention on Cluster Munitions status |
State Party |
|
Stockpile destruction |
Completed destruction in July 2010 |
|
Participation in Convention on Cluster Munitions meetings |
Attended SecondMeeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 |
|
Key developments |
|
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.
In January 2011, Moldova reported that there was no specific legislation related to the Convention on Cluster Munitions, but declared 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 transparency report on 27 January 2011.[2] It submitted an annual updated report on 30 April 2012.[3]
Moldova participated in the Oslo Process that created the Convention on Cluster Munitions.[4]It continued to engage with the work of the convention in 2011 and the first half of 2012. Moldovaparticipated in the convention’s Second Meeting of States Parties in Beirut, Lebanon in September 2011 as well as intersessional meetings held in Geneva in April 2012.
Moldova has yet to state 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 statement during the Second Meeting of States Parties, 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]
On the issue of retention of cluster munitions for training and research purposes, Moldova has stated that “like Norway and others, Moldova does not believe live submunitions are necessary for training.”[6] Moldova has also said that it will not acquire or retain any cluster munitions (see Stockpiling and destruction section below).[7]
Moldova is a party to the Convention on Conventional Weapons (CCW), but did not actively participate in CCW deliberations at the Fourth Review Conference in November 2011.
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.”[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]
Stockpiling and destruction
Moldova has said that it “inherited a limited stockpile from the former Soviet Union.”[13] According to the initialArticle 7 report, prior to its destruction, Moldova’s stockpile totaled 1,385 cluster munitions, containing 27,050 submunitions.[14] This included 473 9M27K 220mm surface-to-surface rockets containing a total of 14,190 9N210 fragmentation submunitions 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 152mm cluster munition artillery projectiles. After signing, Moldova marked and separated its cluster munitions from all other munitions types.[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 retained 19 submunitions that have been rendered free from explosives for training and display purposes.[20]
[1]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form A, 27 January 2011.Previously, in March 2010, a Ministry of Foreign Affairs official indicated that Moldova believes existing laws are sufficient to sanction any violations of the convention. Interview with DorinPanfil, Head, NATO and Political-Military Cooperation Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, 18 March 2010.
[2] There is no reporting period for the report, which is described as “initial” and dated 27 January 2011.
[3] The report is for the period from 30 April 2011 to 30 April 2012 and indicates no changes from the initial report.
[4] For details on Moldova’s cluster munition policy and practice through early 2009, see Human Rights Watch and Landmine Action, Banning Cluster Munitions: Government Policy and Practice (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada, May 2009), pp. 120–121.
[5]Statement of Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Second Meeting of States Parties, Beirut, 13 September 2011,http://www.clusterconvention.org/files/2011/09/statement_moldova_updated.pdf.
[6] Ibid.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Letter from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the UN in Geneva, 2 March 2009.
[9]Submission of the Republic of Moldova, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Report for Calendar Year 2000, 30 May 2001. Moldova reported that it possessed 11 220mm UraganMultiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) in its UN Register of Conventional Arms, Report for Calendar Year 2002, 1 July 2003. Moldova also reported the transfer of 13 multi-barrel rocket launchers to Yemen in 1994 but it is not known if this included rockets containing submunitions. Submission of theRepublic of Moldova, UN Register of Conventional Arms, Report for Calendar Year 1994,28 April 1995.
[10] Interview with Panfil, Ministry of Foreign Affairs and European Integration, 18 March 2010; letter from Col. Iurie Dominic, Chief ad-interim of General Staff, National Army, 17 March 2010; and Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munition Article Report, Form B, 27 January 2011.
[11]Statement by Amb.AlexandruCujba, UNGA First Committee, New York, 12 October 2010.
[12]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011.
[13]Letter from the Permanent Mission of the Republic of Moldova to the UN in Geneva, 2 March 2009.
[14]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011. Previously, in June 2010, the stockpile prior to destruction was reported as comprising 1,385 cluster munitions containing a total of 27,330 submunitions, a difference of 280 submunitions. Presentation by NPA and the Ministry of Defense, “Concept and Current Activities in the Self-Help Project of Cluster Munitions Stockpile Destruction,” Zagreb, 8 February 2010; andemail from Col.Andrei Sarban,Commander Logistic Command, Deputy Chief of the Main Staff, National Army,Ministry of Defense, 23 June 2010. See ICBL, Cluster Munition Monitor 2010 (Ottawa: Mines Action Canada: October 2010), p. 90–92.
[15]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011.
[16]Presentation by NPA and the Ministry of Defense, “Concept and Current Activities in the Self-Help Project of Cluster Munitions Stockpile Destruction,” Zagreb, 8 February 2010; and email from Col. Sarban, Ministry of Defense, 23 June 2010.
[17]Moldova announced the completion of its destruction during the convention’s First Meeting of States Parties in Vientiane, Lao PDR in November 2010.Statement of Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 11 November 2010, notes by the CMC.
[18]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munition Article 7 Report, Form B, 27 January 2011.
[19]Statement of Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions First Meeting of States Parties, Vientiane, 11 November 2011.Notes by the CMC.
[20]Moldova, Convention on Cluster Munitions Article 7 Report, Forms B and C, 27 January 2011.
Send us your feedback on this profile
Send the Monitor your feedback by filling out this form. Responses will be channeled to editors, but will not be available online. Click if you would like to send an attachment. If you are using webmail, send attachments to .